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>the best creatives would rather start their own company than work for someone else I do not believe this is true. There are many very good technical people

by lsc 15y ago

>the best creatives would rather start their own company than work for someone else I do not believe this is true. There are many very good technical people who don't mind running businesses, but my experience is that the best technical people? they don't want the headache. The best technical people I know lack the business/social skills to negotiate what I think their maximum salary as an employee would be, much less the ability to run a business. We can't all be polymaths.

wccrawford 15y ago
That's true to a point. But most companies aren't willing to treat their top talent well enough to keep them. There comes a time when running your own business is less headache than dealing with a bureaucracy, and they go do that. But again, I said 'most companies'. Some of them have a very clear view of the situation and make sure that talent is happy and unwilling to move to another company, let alone start their own. And I think there are more of those companies all the time. And to be fair to the rest, they probably can't afford it.
- lsc 15y ago
  My experience has been that top technical talent doesn't want to focus on non-technical things, like finding a new job, or even maximizing their income as an employee, so I think keeping them happy has more to do with how you feed them technical challenges and how much freedom you give them (and how you give them that freedom) and how valued they feel than with how much you pay them. I mean, if you pay them so little that it's a problem, they will deal with that problem, but after that? yeah, I don't think that compensation is as important as you say. My experience has been that the people who really focus on maximizing the money are folks like me; I mean, I'm no idiot, but I'm certainly nowhere near the best of the best technically. And even me, I'll choose freedom over maximizing my short-run income.
dextorious 15y ago
"but my experience is that the best technical people? they don't want the headache." Exactly. From Alan Kay, Brian Kernighan, Rob Pike, Guido Van Rossum to Linus Torwalds the best technical people could care less about "starting their own company".
NY_Entrepreneur 15y ago
You seem to be saying that "the best technical people", because they are so good technically, are, then, necessarily less good than others at "business/social skills". It's an old myth used by people without technical expertise to put down technical people. The put down is quite general with a cute twist: The technical expert is painted as good ONLY at the technical topics and is poor at EVERYTHING else including even ordering lunch. It's just a put down to win in competition within the organization. The usual way to avoid such a put down is to 'fit in', 'go along', and 'don't stand out'. BELIEVE me, becoming a technical expert does not somehow ruin a brain for other work. It is true that some technical experts don't bother with 'social', etc., but the issue is desire and not ability.
- lsc 15y ago
  I know it doesn't ruin a brain for other work. I'm a technical person who later in life learned some business and social skills. But you know what? I'd be a better technical person today if I took the effort I put into business and social skills and instead put that effort into becoming a better technical person. And I'm never going to be as good of a social person as someone with similar innate ability who started seriously practicing at an earlier age. If you can win in competition within your organization through putting down other people, your organization has bigger problems. I suggest finding a new job, or, as the article says, starting your own company.
  - NY_Entrepreneur 15y ago
    "If you can win in competition within your organization through putting down other people, your organization has bigger problems." You say this as if it were rare or unexpected! If so, then you are missing the weight of what you said! Once a company, or nearly any organization, gets big and old, it's nearly standard that the organization becomes arrogant, inwardly directed, and process oriented, has big cases of middle management goal subordination, and has each person fighting with others down the hall instead of the competition outside the building. Or, people go to work, work their tails off, stay busy, busy, busy, put in long hours, come home dead tired and frustrated, and the organization accomplishes next to nothing because all the effort is lost in internal mud wrestling. The solution mostly is not to 'find a new job' because nearly all organizations of any size are like this. Yes, the solution is to start your own company. This pair of observations is solid now because, really, big organizations in the US -- GE, AT&T, GM, and more -- are dying out due to new technology, small competitors, foreign competition, etc. The US is regressing to the mean of many old world economies of a lot of small companies with little role for big ones. Once you reach some maturity and begin to understand people, being good 'socially' gets to be simple enough. F'get about the struggles in middle school, high school, and college! So: (1) Have money! If you don't, then JOB ONE is to make some! (2) Stand up straight and be confident! (3) Mostly expect only respect, not loyality or affection. (4) Work to understand the emotions, fears, frustrations, and aspirations of others and, then, don't rub them the wrong way. For adult women, first on their list is your money: They want to know that you have money enough to support a family and, further, have the competence to make more such money. For girls in high school, they want to see you as confident and, then, gentle with them, and then perceptive about their emotions. They want affection, often sex, praise, acceptance, approval, and validation of their worth as girls. By late high school and in college the young women move your money to the head of their list of what they want. That's about it.
mark_l_watson 15y ago
Totally agree with you. Sometimes I dream a bit about having my own company, but when I look at the hassles the owners of my 3 customer companies have, I am grateful that I get to work with 3 groups of talented and interesting people, potentially learn 3 times as much on the job, not as many hassles, and have a "diversified" work base. I won't get rich consulting but I still count my blessings.

by lsc 15y ago

wccrawford 15y ago

That's true to a point. But most companies aren't willing to treat their top talent well enough to keep them. There comes a time when running your own business is less headache than dealing with a bureaucracy, and they go do that. But again, I said 'most companies'. Some of them have a very clear view of the situation and make sure that talent is happy and unwilling to move to another company, let alone start their own. And I think there are more of those companies all the time. And to be fair to the rest, they probably can't afford it.

lsc 15y ago
My experience has been that top technical talent doesn't want to focus on non-technical things, like finding a new job, or even maximizing their income as an employee, so I think keeping them happy has more to do with how you feed them technical challenges and how much freedom you give them (and how you give them that freedom) and how valued they feel than with how much you pay them. I mean, if you pay them so little that it's a problem, they will deal with that problem, but after that? yeah, I don't think that compensation is as important as you say. My experience has been that the people who really focus on maximizing the money are folks like me; I mean, I'm no idiot, but I'm certainly nowhere near the best of the best technically. And even me, I'll choose freedom over maximizing my short-run income.

dextorious 15y ago

"but my experience is that the best technical people? they don't want the headache." Exactly. From Alan Kay, Brian Kernighan, Rob Pike, Guido Van Rossum to Linus Torwalds the best technical people could care less about "starting their own company".

NY_Entrepreneur 15y ago

You seem to be saying that "the best technical people", because they are so good technically, are, then, necessarily less good than others at "business/social skills". It's an old myth used by people without technical expertise to put down technical people. The put down is quite general with a cute twist: The technical expert is painted as good ONLY at the technical topics and is poor at EVERYTHING else including even ordering lunch. It's just a put down to win in competition within the organization. The usual way to avoid such a put down is to 'fit in', 'go along', and 'don't stand out'. BELIEVE me, becoming a technical expert does not somehow ruin a brain for other work. It is true that some technical experts don't bother with 'social', etc., but the issue is desire and not ability.

lsc 15y ago
I know it doesn't ruin a brain for other work. I'm a technical person who later in life learned some business and social skills. But you know what? I'd be a better technical person today if I took the effort I put into business and social skills and instead put that effort into becoming a better technical person. And I'm never going to be as good of a social person as someone with similar innate ability who started seriously practicing at an earlier age. If you can win in competition within your organization through putting down other people, your organization has bigger problems. I suggest finding a new job, or, as the article says, starting your own company.
- NY_Entrepreneur 15y ago
  "If you can win in competition within your organization through putting down other people, your organization has bigger problems." You say this as if it were rare or unexpected! If so, then you are missing the weight of what you said! Once a company, or nearly any organization, gets big and old, it's nearly standard that the organization becomes arrogant, inwardly directed, and process oriented, has big cases of middle management goal subordination, and has each person fighting with others down the hall instead of the competition outside the building. Or, people go to work, work their tails off, stay busy, busy, busy, put in long hours, come home dead tired and frustrated, and the organization accomplishes next to nothing because all the effort is lost in internal mud wrestling. The solution mostly is not to 'find a new job' because nearly all organizations of any size are like this. Yes, the solution is to start your own company. This pair of observations is solid now because, really, big organizations in the US -- GE, AT&T, GM, and more -- are dying out due to new technology, small competitors, foreign competition, etc. The US is regressing to the mean of many old world economies of a lot of small companies with little role for big ones. Once you reach some maturity and begin to understand people, being good 'socially' gets to be simple enough. F'get about the struggles in middle school, high school, and college! So: (1) Have money! If you don't, then JOB ONE is to make some! (2) Stand up straight and be confident! (3) Mostly expect only respect, not loyality or affection. (4) Work to understand the emotions, fears, frustrations, and aspirations of others and, then, don't rub them the wrong way. For adult women, first on their list is your money: They want to know that you have money enough to support a family and, further, have the competence to make more such money. For girls in high school, they want to see you as confident and, then, gentle with them, and then perceptive about their emotions. They want affection, often sex, praise, acceptance, approval, and validation of their worth as girls. By late high school and in college the young women move your money to the head of their list of what they want. That's about it.

mark_l_watson 15y ago

Totally agree with you. Sometimes I dream a bit about having my own company, but when I look at the hassles the owners of my 3 customer companies have, I am grateful that I get to work with 3 groups of talented and interesting people, potentially learn 3 times as much on the job, not as many hassles, and have a "diversified" work base. I won't get rich consulting but I still count my blessings.