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Don’t you kind of have to be this person if you want to found a startup? To me this just describes a founder. If you’re not a founder and you’re putting this

Don’t you kind of have to be this person if you want to found a startup? To me this just describes a founder. If you’re not a founder and you’re putting this kind of energy into your job, I hope you at least have substantial equity, because otherwise you’re being taken advantage of. Know your worth! Also if you think this is you, it probably isn’t. There isn’t an “engineering” wildcard or a “marketing” wildcard, the whole point is that these people do everything.

synu 4y ago
You could still work on diverse things, but do it within your normal work day. I don’t think being a jack of all trades necessitates overwork or being taken advantage of (though it certainly could, but so could a deep expert who doesn’t have a diverse skill set).
anonyme-honteux 4y ago
I don't think so, many people have a wide array of skills and interests, but none of them is business related. Are they being taken advantage of? Sure, most people are being taken advantage of, that's the system we live in, it's called capitalism. But in rich countries that often still leaves enough to have a good life.
robmerki 4y ago
Many people who I met while writing this article told me they don’t want the full blown responsibilities of being a founder. They just like doing lots of different things. But ultimately, you’re right.
- fuzzfactor 4y ago
  >Imagine being involved in everything a company does. Schipplock has a good imagination, realistic, too: >As someone already commented, it‘s a recipe for a burn-out. But doesn't burn out the real wildcard CEO material. For this person it's not wild to go beyond a recipe, it's common. A lower-performing CEO who's only involved in less than everything a company does, limits the company to achieveing less than everything it could. These are the ones most threatened by a wildcard operator at any level, and that trepidation will trickle down until making contact with the threat in a neutralizing way. Poisoning the chain of command against comprehensive problem-solving all the way down.
1123581321 4y ago
I see what you are saying. I think that some people are good at trying everything when they are alone or the one in full control, and others are good at operating dynamically within a larger organization or a situation not of their choosing. So I think we need two terms and I think wildcard/free electron applies more to the person operating inside an organization or community.
- quartesixte 4y ago
  Right. The wildcard/free electron I have observed and worked closely with the most has an almost physical allergic reaction to power and control. They throw themselves headfirst into fires and spit out solutions that work and endure, but are horrified of holding any official title beyond their nebulous, job descriptionless role. Receiving public credit also makes them recoil in horror — so long as 1) the CEO duly compensates them for their effort and time (this person has a ruthlessly mercenary personality…funnily enough) and 2) the solution they shipped works, they are happy. But one thing that I think a lot of what the article missed, and perhaps what demarcates the good from the just okay wildcards, is that the one of the overall goals for any task is to find a good specialist/maintainer who will continue on and refine the min-viable into something sustainable long term. Those who care not to firefight, but to do the work of tending the garden while they go on to fight the next fire.
  - dinkumthinkum 4y ago
    I feel like this is describing a class in an RPG. I’m not sure people fit into these boxes so well. I’m not sure I have seen many of these ruthless mercenaries in the wild.
    - quartesixte 4y ago
      Ah sorry should have made more clear — this was just about this one specific person. I haven’t met many people like them either. I have also not met many ruthless corporate mercenaries. This particular person might be an edge case (they also retired at age 40…while living a pretty upscale lifestyle). So it’s possible to be a wildcard and be wildly successful, contrary to the statements here. Just a helluva lot harder.
moltar 4y ago
This is almost right. This is exactly half of what’s required in a startup. The other half is someone in operations who can do the organization of chaos output into a coherent system.

synu 4y ago

You could still work on diverse things, but do it within your normal work day. I don’t think being a jack of all trades necessitates overwork or being taken advantage of (though it certainly could, but so could a deep expert who doesn’t have a diverse skill set).

anonyme-honteux 4y ago

I don't think so, many people have a wide array of skills and interests, but none of them is business related. Are they being taken advantage of? Sure, most people are being taken advantage of, that's the system we live in, it's called capitalism. But in rich countries that often still leaves enough to have a good life.

robmerki 4y ago

Many people who I met while writing this article told me they don’t want the full blown responsibilities of being a founder. They just like doing lots of different things. But ultimately, you’re right.

fuzzfactor 4y ago
>Imagine being involved in everything a company does. Schipplock has a good imagination, realistic, too: >As someone already commented, it‘s a recipe for a burn-out. But doesn't burn out the real wildcard CEO material. For this person it's not wild to go beyond a recipe, it's common. A lower-performing CEO who's only involved in less than everything a company does, limits the company to achieveing less than everything it could. These are the ones most threatened by a wildcard operator at any level, and that trepidation will trickle down until making contact with the threat in a neutralizing way. Poisoning the chain of command against comprehensive problem-solving all the way down.

1123581321 4y ago

I see what you are saying. I think that some people are good at trying everything when they are alone or the one in full control, and others are good at operating dynamically within a larger organization or a situation not of their choosing. So I think we need two terms and I think wildcard/free electron applies more to the person operating inside an organization or community.

quartesixte 4y ago
Right. The wildcard/free electron I have observed and worked closely with the most has an almost physical allergic reaction to power and control. They throw themselves headfirst into fires and spit out solutions that work and endure, but are horrified of holding any official title beyond their nebulous, job descriptionless role. Receiving public credit also makes them recoil in horror — so long as 1) the CEO duly compensates them for their effort and time (this person has a ruthlessly mercenary personality…funnily enough) and 2) the solution they shipped works, they are happy. But one thing that I think a lot of what the article missed, and perhaps what demarcates the good from the just okay wildcards, is that the one of the overall goals for any task is to find a good specialist/maintainer who will continue on and refine the min-viable into something sustainable long term. Those who care not to firefight, but to do the work of tending the garden while they go on to fight the next fire.
- dinkumthinkum 4y ago
  I feel like this is describing a class in an RPG. I’m not sure people fit into these boxes so well. I’m not sure I have seen many of these ruthless mercenaries in the wild.
  - quartesixte 4y ago
    Ah sorry should have made more clear — this was just about this one specific person. I haven’t met many people like them either. I have also not met many ruthless corporate mercenaries. This particular person might be an edge case (they also retired at age 40…while living a pretty upscale lifestyle). So it’s possible to be a wildcard and be wildly successful, contrary to the statements here. Just a helluva lot harder.

moltar 4y ago

This is almost right. This is exactly half of what’s required in a startup. The other half is someone in operations who can do the organization of chaos output into a coherent system.