3 ms·
This should be a very good read for those of you that think that formal education is not necessary for start-up success. I am not sure who the author of this is
by hristov 15y ago
This should be a very good read for those of you that think that formal education is not necessary for start-up success. I am not sure who the author of this is and whether he went to college or not, but he clearly needs to take a good writing class. He may actually have a good point about keeping commitments but the whole thing is written so badly, in such a meandering and repetitive way that it is a joke. And I doubt any of the recipients of that email will take him seriously and will stop going to their classes to work on his project as he requests.
The saddest part is that he most likely thinks he is working very hard and being very productive. He is writing all these pages upon pages of stuff repeating the same mantra, relating to his favorite history channel shows, etc. But of course he is wasting his time and the time of the people that will have to read the thing. Although I am sure the readers get some entertainment as a side benefit. If he knew how to write he could have written a tight passage of several paragraphs or so that properly conveys the need for dependability and the urgency of the situation without making a fool of himself or insulting his readers.
Writing is a skill and it matters. This is especially true for people in leadership positions.
- cop359 15y agoThe repetition is obviously intentional (I'm surprised this wasn't evident to you). It's written more as a speech rather then a pamphlet. Have you listened to for instance Obama, or any other politician? Usually they have very little to say(you could probably summarize in 5 sentences), but to get the point across they use repetition. It's an effective communication tool.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- DanBC 15y ago> It's an effective communication tool. ...used really badly in this example.
- kahawe 15y ago> It's an effective communication tool. He is using email, of all means of communication... far from effective and one of the narrowest communication channels. We are far from "effective" here - he was just venting his anger.
- dolphenstein 15y ago5275 words in the past two blog posts in the last two days. Want more time in the day? My advice: quit ranting!
- vacri 15y agoI think this was written between 05:41 and 05:47 on Monday morning...
- radagaisus 15y agolike Steve Yegge turned bad.
- ralph 15y agoDoes this mean I'm not alone in thinking Yegge could cut half his prose and create a better post?
- berntb 15y agoI am of the opposite opinion. Yegge's problem is that he writes better than he is smart; he buys too much of his own bull. (That said, he is certainly very smart.) Edit: You're right, on consideration. If Yegge used writing discipline, it would not be as fun to read but have a higher signal to noise.
- danneu 15y agoThis has little to do with formal education. I learned my writing from reading, subsequently internalizing it, and practicing outside the institution. This is clearly written during a bout of mania. Compare the writing patterns of someone sober to the superfluous writing of that same person on a stimulant binge.