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I would have supported your point if I remember people demanding for the "positive side" of Pincus in comments discussing posts bashing him/Zynga. I read this

I would have supported your point if I remember people demanding for the "positive side" of Pincus in comments discussing posts bashing him/Zynga. I read this as a deeply grateful person writing about his positive experience with a mentor of his. It might have been written because the author wants to balance the solely negative stories we hear of him. Because this is Svbtle does not mean we should forget that this is a personal blog.

wpietri 14y ago
If this is an attempt at balance, he should say so. The problem isn't with his core story. It's the poor management of audience expectations.
mnicole 14y ago
Edit: Since this link was posted to HN, Sash has removed each of his other posts, so those are what I am referring to in the second-to-last paragraph. > It might have been written because the author wants to balance the solely negative stories we hear of him. My opinion of the company was not based on what other employees have said; their business practices before all of this alone made them look bad. The employee accounts and admissions Pincus made regarding doing anything to make money just added insult to injury. Additionally, I don't think there's anything worth balancing regarding a CEO who tells his employees to steal rather than innovate because they're not as smart as their competitors. The OP used the term "groomed" to speak to how many young employees were quickly shot up the ranks without any experience and how this was intentional. I would be grateful to someone that irresponsibly gave me a fancy title and put me in charge of something too, despite the reality that he was using my youthful ambitions to his advantage, working me to the bone under the guise that I was capable of the work I was doing, despite failing in doing so. I also don't know anything about the author's health before the incident where he collapsed, but it wouldn't surprise me if the stress of working in such a way played a role in it. It all seems a little too Stockholm Syndrome to me, but I'm not Sash so I really can't say. > Because this is Svbtle does not mean we should forget that this is a personal blog. So then what is the point of Svbtle as an exclusionist platform if at the end of the day it's no different from any other? ".. an invite-only publishing network that brings some of the best things from newspapers and magazines to a network of great people. We focus on the people, the writing, and the ideas. Everything else is secondary." His first post on the platform was a quote from Pincus from an article written last year about how well the company was doing, and a single sentence agreement with it. The second entry was a few sentences about how ideas are useless (when actually dreamers are just as important as doers, but I guess when you can make money profiting off of other people's ideas, you would hold this sentiment). Outside of the linked entry, the rest were just a few sentences to a paragraph or two on nothing all that earth-shattering. Personally, I think they should put the answers the authors write in response to the "Expertise + Authority: Who are you? Why should people listen to you?" and "What do you plan to write [about]?" questions they answer when they apply in the sidebar. That's what I want to know before I sink my teeth into the entry.
- argonaut 14y ago
  I'm just an observer of this conversation, but I'm afraid I have to agree with OoTheNigerian with this one. I'm well aware of Mark Pincus's idiotic mishaps, but it's readily apparent your arguments were made up a long time ago to snarkily criticize everything, in terms of framing everything to fit your negative picture of Mark. Exaxmple: You frame "grooming" as "irresponsibly" giving a "fancy title", when it could just have well been framed by someone with a positive view of Mark as "establishing the best meritocracy," "Mark has a razor eye for the best talent" and other similarly inane and unsubstantiated labels.
jiggy2011 14y ago
Pincus gets such a slamming every time he is mentioned on HN that his name is (fairly or not) basically synonymous with "bad guy" around here. So when an article like this pops up without addressing the several elephants in the room it's a bit like somebody writing "What it's like to work with Adolf Hitler" without a single mention of the second world war. If you are trying to challenge somebodies assumptions about something it is often best to address them head on.

wpietri 14y ago

If this is an attempt at balance, he should say so. The problem isn't with his core story. It's the poor management of audience expectations.

mnicole 14y ago

Edit: Since this link was posted to HN, Sash has removed each of his other posts, so those are what I am referring to in the second-to-last paragraph. > It might have been written because the author wants to balance the solely negative stories we hear of him. My opinion of the company was not based on what other employees have said; their business practices before all of this alone made them look bad. The employee accounts and admissions Pincus made regarding doing anything to make money just added insult to injury. Additionally, I don't think there's anything worth balancing regarding a CEO who tells his employees to steal rather than innovate because they're not as smart as their competitors. The OP used the term "groomed" to speak to how many young employees were quickly shot up the ranks without any experience and how this was intentional. I would be grateful to someone that irresponsibly gave me a fancy title and put me in charge of something too, despite the reality that he was using my youthful ambitions to his advantage, working me to the bone under the guise that I was capable of the work I was doing, despite failing in doing so. I also don't know anything about the author's health before the incident where he collapsed, but it wouldn't surprise me if the stress of working in such a way played a role in it. It all seems a little too Stockholm Syndrome to me, but I'm not Sash so I really can't say. > Because this is Svbtle does not mean we should forget that this is a personal blog. So then what is the point of Svbtle as an exclusionist platform if at the end of the day it's no different from any other? ".. an invite-only publishing network that brings some of the best things from newspapers and magazines to a network of great people. We focus on the people, the writing, and the ideas. Everything else is secondary." His first post on the platform was a quote from Pincus from an article written last year about how well the company was doing, and a single sentence agreement with it. The second entry was a few sentences about how ideas are useless (when actually dreamers are just as important as doers, but I guess when you can make money profiting off of other people's ideas, you would hold this sentiment). Outside of the linked entry, the rest were just a few sentences to a paragraph or two on nothing all that earth-shattering. Personally, I think they should put the answers the authors write in response to the "Expertise + Authority: Who are you? Why should people listen to you?" and "What do you plan to write [about]?" questions they answer when they apply in the sidebar. That's what I want to know before I sink my teeth into the entry.

argonaut 14y ago
I'm just an observer of this conversation, but I'm afraid I have to agree with OoTheNigerian with this one. I'm well aware of Mark Pincus's idiotic mishaps, but it's readily apparent your arguments were made up a long time ago to snarkily criticize everything, in terms of framing everything to fit your negative picture of Mark. Exaxmple: You frame "grooming" as "irresponsibly" giving a "fancy title", when it could just have well been framed by someone with a positive view of Mark as "establishing the best meritocracy," "Mark has a razor eye for the best talent" and other similarly inane and unsubstantiated labels.

jiggy2011 14y ago

Pincus gets such a slamming every time he is mentioned on HN that his name is (fairly or not) basically synonymous with "bad guy" around here. So when an article like this pops up without addressing the several elephants in the room it's a bit like somebody writing "What it's like to work with Adolf Hitler" without a single mention of the second world war. If you are trying to challenge somebodies assumptions about something it is often best to address them head on.