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The rapid ascendency of 'bro culture' as an accepted problem in startups feels as politically manufactured as the 'alt-right' was to the 2016 election. Both ma

The rapid ascendency of 'bro culture' as an accepted problem in startups feels as politically manufactured as the 'alt-right' was to the 2016 election. Both may have a whisper of truth behind them, both may have some adherents, but the numbers have been blown out of proportion because it's politically useful for some people to invent this boogieman.

marcoperaza 9y ago
Silicon Valley startups are the next frontier for the class of paper pushers, compliance officers, and diversity officers that are dragging down the rest of America. Them and others who want to turn every institution away from its natural purpose and into a vehicle for their political ends. They're already floating gender and race quotas as serious proposals.
glenda 9y ago
I do have to say, after joining a small decidedly non-startup company, the culture at most startups is toxic simply due to that fact that they're so informal and mostly full of men. That means there will be certain situations in which the women (if there are any) may feel uncomfortable as their needs and concerns are not being actively considered.
- degenerate 9y ago
  But therein lies the problem. The CULTURE of a startup is that of a lean, mean, industry-shaking machine. You need a warrior's mentality to bite the bullet / grin and bear it / do what needs to be done for the company to be successful, or it will fail. Long hours, insurmountable goals, head-to-head teams, killing the bad ideas early. If women can roll with that, GREAT, they can join the ranks and be one of the guys. But women don't have that testosterone flowing in their veins to operate on that level. Startups are like an extreme sport, yes there are some extreme women but it's MOSTLY men, because our testosterone fuels our desire to outperform, over-excel and become #1. This is why the top elite bankers and day traders are also men. At some point we need to step away from the "58 genders everyone can identify as an apache helicopter" mentality plaguing our society and accept the physical, emotional, and mental differences in our biochemistry as a divider in our abilities as male or female. There's feminine men, and there's masculine women. Their existence does not mean all men can do what women are good at, and vice versa. WE ARE DIFFERENT.
  - glenda 9y ago
    This point of view is absolutely absurd. Women and men are both obviously capable of hard work in the same capacity.
    - degenerate 9y ago
      Yup, but not as many women as men. Thus you won't have a nice 50/50 mix that HR expects.
  - ritchiea 9y ago
    Username "degenerate" defines startup culture as equivalent to macho culture and wonders if women are as good and determined at work as men. Got it.
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    The words "bite the bullet / grin and bear it / do what needs to be done for the company to be successful, or it will fail" could also describe the job of a parent. Yet we don't usually think of parents as being warriors. Thanks for giving us all an example of assumptions about gender that cause huge problems, can I use your words as training material?
- whitemale 9y ago
  Should people not be allowed to build a startup or a company where some groups of people might feel unwelcome?
notacoward 9y ago
> because it's politically useful for some people to invent this boogieman. That's a remarkably uncharitable attribution of motive. Sometimes people jump on an idea because it seems novel to them, or because it seems like the most significant - but not only - thing, or because it seems easy. Those might not be perfect strategies, but there's no need to assume malice or conspiracy. What other issue do you think people should focus on instead? Wait, don't answer that. First, why do you think you should have a say? One of the beautiful things about a democratic society is that a million people can have a million different ideas and priorities, many of them seeming "wrong" to someone else, but all tolerating each others' "screwed up" ideas anyway. How does concern trolling fit into that model?
- deleted 9y ago
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- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
twunde 9y ago
It's been discussed as a problem since at least early 2012, see https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2012-03-01/the-rise-of-the-brogrammer https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/arti...

marcoperaza 9y ago

Silicon Valley startups are the next frontier for the class of paper pushers, compliance officers, and diversity officers that are dragging down the rest of America. Them and others who want to turn every institution away from its natural purpose and into a vehicle for their political ends. They're already floating gender and race quotas as serious proposals.

glenda 9y ago

I do have to say, after joining a small decidedly non-startup company, the culture at most startups is toxic simply due to that fact that they're so informal and mostly full of men. That means there will be certain situations in which the women (if there are any) may feel uncomfortable as their needs and concerns are not being actively considered.

degenerate 9y ago
But therein lies the problem. The CULTURE of a startup is that of a lean, mean, industry-shaking machine. You need a warrior's mentality to bite the bullet / grin and bear it / do what needs to be done for the company to be successful, or it will fail. Long hours, insurmountable goals, head-to-head teams, killing the bad ideas early. If women can roll with that, GREAT, they can join the ranks and be one of the guys. But women don't have that testosterone flowing in their veins to operate on that level. Startups are like an extreme sport, yes there are some extreme women but it's MOSTLY men, because our testosterone fuels our desire to outperform, over-excel and become #1. This is why the top elite bankers and day traders are also men. At some point we need to step away from the "58 genders everyone can identify as an apache helicopter" mentality plaguing our society and accept the physical, emotional, and mental differences in our biochemistry as a divider in our abilities as male or female. There's feminine men, and there's masculine women. Their existence does not mean all men can do what women are good at, and vice versa. WE ARE DIFFERENT.
- glenda 9y ago
  This point of view is absolutely absurd. Women and men are both obviously capable of hard work in the same capacity.
  - degenerate 9y ago
    Yup, but not as many women as men. Thus you won't have a nice 50/50 mix that HR expects.
- ritchiea 9y ago
  Username "degenerate" defines startup culture as equivalent to macho culture and wonders if women are as good and determined at work as men. Got it.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  The words "bite the bullet / grin and bear it / do what needs to be done for the company to be successful, or it will fail" could also describe the job of a parent. Yet we don't usually think of parents as being warriors. Thanks for giving us all an example of assumptions about gender that cause huge problems, can I use your words as training material?
whitemale 9y ago
Should people not be allowed to build a startup or a company where some groups of people might feel unwelcome?

notacoward 9y ago

> because it's politically useful for some people to invent this boogieman. That's a remarkably uncharitable attribution of motive. Sometimes people jump on an idea because it seems novel to them, or because it seems like the most significant - but not only - thing, or because it seems easy. Those might not be perfect strategies, but there's no need to assume malice or conspiracy. What other issue do you think people should focus on instead? Wait, don't answer that. First, why do you think you should have a say? One of the beautiful things about a democratic society is that a million people can have a million different ideas and priorities, many of them seeming "wrong" to someone else, but all tolerating each others' "screwed up" ideas anyway. How does concern trolling fit into that model?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

twunde 9y ago

It's been discussed as a problem since at least early 2012, see https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2012-03-01/the-rise-of-the-brogrammer https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/arti...