4 ms·

>They just heard that "tech" has a lot of people who (a) add a lot of value, but (b) are so deficient in social skills and negotiation that it's a cake-walk to

by pvnick 13y ago

>They just heard that "tech" has a lot of people who (a) add a lot of value, but (b) are so deficient in social skills and negotiation that it's a cake-walk to take advantage of them. As someone who struggled to find his place socially throughout school, it's infuriating to see a bunch of ex-high-school-bullies get installed as managers and do nothing but play the political game and push their employees to burn-out levels because they don't care to understand the effort that goes into writing software. All the while they just sit in their fancy offices shmoozing with the other parasites, embarking on shaky "biz-dev" deals that never come to fruition, and generally getting zero work done in exchange for embarrassingly high compensation.

Gravityloss 13y ago
I'm sure there must be competitors where this is not happening.
- pvnick 13y ago
  Let's hope the free market favors them ;)
michaelochurch 13y ago
The problem is that even we are prone to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Tech people tend to fall prey to shady actors just as much as anyone else. We're blind to superficial charm when it's directed at our prejudices in the right way. Based on what I've said about VCs, one might think that I despise them. Far from it, actually. The ones I've met, I like. However, I think they are bad judges of character and fund some awful people. The difference between me and 99% of business people is that I know that I'm not a great judge of character. I'm probably average at it, but that's not saying much. It's like saying, "I'm average at national security"; if you don't have a rare stopping power, you're exposed. I wouldn't bet my career on someone (beyond typical management) without having that person meet some people who I think are better judges than I am. Unfortunately, most people are highly confident in their judgment of character despite a lack of talent for it, and that's dangerous. Especially when they hand our power over, like when we're at a company and our decent-human-being-but-overextended founder/bosses install evil middle managers.
- pvnick 13y ago
  >Unfortunately, most people are highly confident in their judgment of character despite a lack of talent for it, and that's dangerous. Especially when they hand our power over, like when we're at a company and our decent-human-being-but-overextended founder/bosses install evil middle managers. You seem like a very insightful person. This is exactly how this happens.

by pvnick 13y ago

Gravityloss 13y ago

I'm sure there must be competitors where this is not happening.

pvnick 13y ago
Let's hope the free market favors them ;)

michaelochurch 13y ago

The problem is that even we are prone to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Tech people tend to fall prey to shady actors just as much as anyone else. We're blind to superficial charm when it's directed at our prejudices in the right way. Based on what I've said about VCs, one might think that I despise them. Far from it, actually. The ones I've met, I like. However, I think they are bad judges of character and fund some awful people. The difference between me and 99% of business people is that I know that I'm not a great judge of character. I'm probably average at it, but that's not saying much. It's like saying, "I'm average at national security"; if you don't have a rare stopping power, you're exposed. I wouldn't bet my career on someone (beyond typical management) without having that person meet some people who I think are better judges than I am. Unfortunately, most people are highly confident in their judgment of character despite a lack of talent for it, and that's dangerous. Especially when they hand our power over, like when we're at a company and our decent-human-being-but-overextended founder/bosses install evil middle managers.

pvnick 13y ago
>Unfortunately, most people are highly confident in their judgment of character despite a lack of talent for it, and that's dangerous. Especially when they hand our power over, like when we're at a company and our decent-human-being-but-overextended founder/bosses install evil middle managers. You seem like a very insightful person. This is exactly how this happens.