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Startups do a bad job of trying to replace real friendship/camaraderie

6 points by roryireland 13y ago

The more I think of it, the more it seems true. Startups have tried to replace a culture that is increasingly lost and it's not doing a great job of it. So many of things startups push - free breakfast, "unlimited" holidays, beers after a certain time, "team building" exercises are driven largely by profit (ie: keeping you in the office longer). I increasingly find it cynical that they try to turn some of the best parts of human life into a human resources strategy. Pressuring people to stay later in work or trying to de facto push groups of colleagues together to be "friends" is cynical. It's kind of like the Pixar version of real life - things seem real in many ways buuuttt...the bottom line is in trouble and boom, you are out on your own - minus "friendships" and all the other guff you got from the startup cult.

roryireland 13y ago
Meanwhile, your 12 hours days have lead to loss of free time with your lifelong friends, girlfriend, bad health, missing travel, social, sporting and community/political opportunities...Just look at the feeling of something greater that so many of the Obama 2012 geeks felt when they were dragged out of their startup open plan offices and made to be part of something greater (whatever your politics). All the startup "teams" I've seen and worked with have never come close to replacing my real friendships, no matter how hard HR departments tried... It's sad that at a time when we are increasingly disconnected that the startup mentality has used this for it's own purposes (not always cynically ofcourse but the effect will probably still remain.) Nothing, never, ever can beat the friendships, teamwork and sheer joy of talking and having fun with friends of mine who I once served with in the military etc. Perhaps it was the most cynical of all organisations but the friendships where the most true...people who you know would be there for you, no matter what, including most of the people in charge of you - NCO's, officers etc (yeh some are bad but most are good a really care - they are not just playing a game)
- gee_totes 13y ago
  The differences in military vs. startup organizational friendship may have to do with what is on the line. In the military, the organization is a matter of life and death. In startups, the organization is simply a matter of profit and loss. I've had similar experiences in the activist world... nothing builds camaraderie like being tear gassed and arrested together.
  - roryireland 13y ago
    Also, I understand the activist world, as have been part of it myself sometimes... It's the way startups feel like such a cynical transaction these days...Initially it seemed like such a liberating thing, now it's more of an emprisonment for many - shuttered away from those people and things that really matter.
munimkazia 13y ago
Well, that is kind of obvious. They hire you for your work, and try to extract the most out of you in a productive way without pissing you off. You really think they would give a damn about your life otherwise? This is why people should have a life outside work, with family and real friends who care for them.

6 points by roryireland 13y ago

roryireland 13y ago

Meanwhile, your 12 hours days have lead to loss of free time with your lifelong friends, girlfriend, bad health, missing travel, social, sporting and community/political opportunities...Just look at the feeling of something greater that so many of the Obama 2012 geeks felt when they were dragged out of their startup open plan offices and made to be part of something greater (whatever your politics). All the startup "teams" I've seen and worked with have never come close to replacing my real friendships, no matter how hard HR departments tried... It's sad that at a time when we are increasingly disconnected that the startup mentality has used this for it's own purposes (not always cynically ofcourse but the effect will probably still remain.) Nothing, never, ever can beat the friendships, teamwork and sheer joy of talking and having fun with friends of mine who I once served with in the military etc. Perhaps it was the most cynical of all organisations but the friendships where the most true...people who you know would be there for you, no matter what, including most of the people in charge of you - NCO's, officers etc (yeh some are bad but most are good a really care - they are not just playing a game)

gee_totes 13y ago
The differences in military vs. startup organizational friendship may have to do with what is on the line. In the military, the organization is a matter of life and death. In startups, the organization is simply a matter of profit and loss. I've had similar experiences in the activist world... nothing builds camaraderie like being tear gassed and arrested together.
- roryireland 13y ago
  Also, I understand the activist world, as have been part of it myself sometimes... It's the way startups feel like such a cynical transaction these days...Initially it seemed like such a liberating thing, now it's more of an emprisonment for many - shuttered away from those people and things that really matter.

munimkazia 13y ago

Well, that is kind of obvious. They hire you for your work, and try to extract the most out of you in a productive way without pissing you off. You really think they would give a damn about your life otherwise? This is why people should have a life outside work, with family and real friends who care for them.