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The author seems to have written this as flattering to Travis, but he comes off as an arrogant jackass. At the end of the day, he doesn't care about _people_.
by chralieboy 12y ago
The author seems to have written this as flattering to Travis, but he comes off as an arrogant jackass.
At the end of the day, he doesn't care about _people_. He decides he wants to own something and ruthlessly pursues it. There is merit to success in a narrow field of life (e.g. business), but on the whole I wouldn't put him up as a model citizen.
Would I want a world full of people like that? Not particularly. Reminds me of Thomas Hobbes' "endless seeking of power after power, that ceaseth only in death." A recipe for success, in a very narrow sense, but not happiness.
- puranjay 12y agoI said this in an earlier thread as well. TK comes across as a businessman. The kind of living embodiment of those motivational mantras 'business and marketing' accounts have on Instagram (except his is the 'work hard, work harder' dictum, not the 'work hard, party hard') In contrast, the people who run Google - Page, Brin and (earlier) Schmidt - come across as nerds who just happened to build an absolutely amazing product. Their commitment is to their tech first, not their business. Yes, they will mow down rivals if need be, but they won't do it as unapologetically and single-mindedly as TK TK reminds me a bit of Bill Gates in the late 80s and 90s - smart as hell and ruthlessly driven. I wouldn't want to compete against 90s-era Gates. Or 90s era Larry Ellison. He would probably outwork, outnetwork and outsell me. I might have a chance of outsmarting him, but that isn't nearly enough. (no, that's hyperbole. I have no chance in hell of outsmarting Gates or Ellison or TK)