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1. Not showing me the way you solve a problem. 2. Having a strong belief that most non-programmers are dumb, including marketing/sales/customer service. This s

1. Not showing me the way you solve a problem. 2. Having a strong belief that most non-programmers are dumb, including marketing/sales/customer service. This shows up when you interact with those folks. All the guys I've fired in my company are for this reason and never for their failure to not being able to implement an LSM based k/v store. 3. Asking for vacation with reason ("there is nothing to do at the moment"), then after returning from vacation telling us that the service got hacked because "I did not have enough time to fix that particular issue" 4. Failing to understand how the company makes money and our expectations. Some devs love their craft and take home big salaries but in office, they are busy painting us as a con show. Some part of your income comes from the effort of that sales guy/gal, how is your work purer than her? Why paint him as a shady gal in the office? 5. I doubled compensation of some developers, they came back with a request to switch them from fulltime to parttime. This is based on early experience as a founder.

acyclicGraphics 8y ago
1. [...] Seems reasonable... 2. [...] Okay, but seriously. Excel spreadsheets, dude. I mean, come on. 3. [...] I'm not going to defend being a lazy shit bag, but developers are soldiers, and we are not paid to think. We are not paid to think. We are not paid to think. We are paid to follow orders. We are paid to not act out of turn. We are paid to shut up, mind our own business, and not form opinions, while delivering predictable results, in a reliable fashion, without garrish creativity. The inirtia of an organization involving the efforts of tens or hundreds of people, will, in many cases stultify the best intentions of any well-meaning, self-sacrificing individual. In some cases it is absolute death to jump the line, and cut to the chase, simply because of observed inefficiency. Sometimes, you just have to see a thing, know it's a problem, and wait for the responsible person to act on it, no matter how ferociously it burns. 4. [...] That's because modern civilization as we know it, is just absolutely beyond fucking absurd. And lately especially so. I get that listening to people bitch and moan is a chore, but this isn't about "what the company does" and is instead about having the taste to not be snarky within an inappropriate context. It in the same family of behavioral qualities as not being a douche nozzle, and using harsh language in front of small children. See also: We are not paid to think. We are paid to shut up and mind our own business. 5. [...] This feels like incomplete information. Did you give them more [double] money for the same work, and then they instead asked you if they could keep their original [single] money, but work half as much? I sense a ratio that isn't entirely irrational in this situation.
l-0-l 8y ago
How long have you been a founder and how many have you fired?
jmheinkle 8y ago
How is this comment by a startup founder who has made devastatingly good points being downvotes?

acyclicGraphics 8y ago

1. [...] Seems reasonable... 2. [...] Okay, but seriously. Excel spreadsheets, dude. I mean, come on. 3. [...] I'm not going to defend being a lazy shit bag, but developers are soldiers, and we are not paid to think. We are not paid to think. We are not paid to think. We are paid to follow orders. We are paid to not act out of turn. We are paid to shut up, mind our own business, and not form opinions, while delivering predictable results, in a reliable fashion, without garrish creativity. The inirtia of an organization involving the efforts of tens or hundreds of people, will, in many cases stultify the best intentions of any well-meaning, self-sacrificing individual. In some cases it is absolute death to jump the line, and cut to the chase, simply because of observed inefficiency. Sometimes, you just have to see a thing, know it's a problem, and wait for the responsible person to act on it, no matter how ferociously it burns. 4. [...] That's because modern civilization as we know it, is just absolutely beyond fucking absurd. And lately especially so. I get that listening to people bitch and moan is a chore, but this isn't about "what the company does" and is instead about having the taste to not be snarky within an inappropriate context. It in the same family of behavioral qualities as not being a douche nozzle, and using harsh language in front of small children. See also: We are not paid to think. We are paid to shut up and mind our own business. 5. [...] This feels like incomplete information. Did you give them more [double] money for the same work, and then they instead asked you if they could keep their original [single] money, but work half as much? I sense a ratio that isn't entirely irrational in this situation.

l-0-l 8y ago

How long have you been a founder and how many have you fired?

jmheinkle 8y ago

How is this comment by a startup founder who has made devastatingly good points being downvotes?