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I can't tell if this is literally talking about people who compete in physical activities or not. I feel like you could replace every instance of the word "ath

by Adrock 14y ago

I can't tell if this is literally talking about people who compete in physical activities or not. I feel like you could replace every instance of the word "athlete" with "ninja" or some other term and it would make just as much sense. Am I missing something?

bradleyland 14y ago
Yeah, I found the athlete metaphor was a little bit abused as well.
georgemcbay 14y ago
Same here. I'm pretty sure he isn't talking about actual athletes, but is using that term to describe "self-directed generalist workers", because that's the only way the text makes sense. But then the whole issue is confused by "athletes" being a a terrible term for "generalist" because while real athletes are certainly self-motivated, they tend to be extremely narrowly focused on a very specific role in a very specific activity (with a few exceptions that prove the rule), which doesn't mesh well with what the article is saying about hiring them as generalists for startups.
sethist 14y ago
The definition of "athlete" as it is used in this article is most popular in college football. There are a variety of set positions (jobs) in football and each player generally only plays one or two positions. The term athlete is used to describe a player who doesn't have one particular set position. This is either because of their versatility or a lack of any specific specialized skill. More often than not, a player will be labeled an athlete as they enter college but will quickly be assigned a position in order for him to focus his training. The idea is that athletes are rawer, more malleable, more flexible, but riskier and generally less skilled (therefore probably cheaper) employees when compared to true specialists. This makes them good hires for startups. The article could have benefited from actually saying this.
sid05 14y ago
From the 3rd paragraph... One of the decisions we made early on was to only hire athletes. Metaphorically speaking, that is. I don’t mean athletes as in people who play sports. Athletes, as in people that can play any position within your startup. It means someone is first and foremost a generalist. They are guys that think and act like founders because they’re not so locked into one individual role that they lose track of the wider needs of the company. They have lots of good skills that can be applicable all over the company but may not be the very best at any particular one skill. So no a ninja would not necessarily be a generalist if we were to talk about ninjas...

by Adrock 14y ago

bradleyland 14y ago

Yeah, I found the athlete metaphor was a little bit abused as well.

georgemcbay 14y ago

Same here. I'm pretty sure he isn't talking about actual athletes, but is using that term to describe "self-directed generalist workers", because that's the only way the text makes sense. But then the whole issue is confused by "athletes" being a a terrible term for "generalist" because while real athletes are certainly self-motivated, they tend to be extremely narrowly focused on a very specific role in a very specific activity (with a few exceptions that prove the rule), which doesn't mesh well with what the article is saying about hiring them as generalists for startups.

sethist 14y ago

The definition of "athlete" as it is used in this article is most popular in college football. There are a variety of set positions (jobs) in football and each player generally only plays one or two positions. The term athlete is used to describe a player who doesn't have one particular set position. This is either because of their versatility or a lack of any specific specialized skill. More often than not, a player will be labeled an athlete as they enter college but will quickly be assigned a position in order for him to focus his training. The idea is that athletes are rawer, more malleable, more flexible, but riskier and generally less skilled (therefore probably cheaper) employees when compared to true specialists. This makes them good hires for startups. The article could have benefited from actually saying this.

sid05 14y ago

From the 3rd paragraph... One of the decisions we made early on was to only hire athletes. Metaphorically speaking, that is. I don’t mean athletes as in people who play sports. Athletes, as in people that can play any position within your startup. It means someone is first and foremost a generalist. They are guys that think and act like founders because they’re not so locked into one individual role that they lose track of the wider needs of the company. They have lots of good skills that can be applicable all over the company but may not be the very best at any particular one skill. So no a ninja would not necessarily be a generalist if we were to talk about ninjas...