Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Dev Basu — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:11:16 -0000

When I worked at MS Canada, slacking off was just not part of the company culture. There was always so much exciting stuff to do, that slacking off rarely crossed my mind. Despite being the corporate behemoth that it is, its rare that anyone take a flight first class, or books an expensive hotel room. I know I didn't when on tour, and neither did my colleagues.

Jason has some excellent points in his article to maximize cost efficiency when cash flow is tight, but I have to say that there's a fine line between setting a productive organizational mindset, and being an autocratic boss. I admit that there's a lot of signal behind the noise, yet, personal PR plays a very important part in how the public perceived Jason's comments.

Dev Basu

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

angryguy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:02:47 -0000

If I were fired for what I did during my lunch break, I'd sue my boss for all he has.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Damon Billian — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:55:30 -0000

"Jason also told me about two employees who’d be outside smoking while the rest of the company was working hard during lunches. He fired those two. Why? They weren’t team players"

Actually, that shows very poor management skills. The right thing would have been to pull the employees aside & discuss the matter with them. In addition, the whole point of a lunch is to take a break & shouldn't count against the employees.

I may smoke but there's not a person in my company that would question my productivity because of it. I've seen people do a lot worse, start-up or not, such as chatting on the phone with friends, sending countless personal emails, wasting time on social networks, checking their eBay auctions, etc. I think there were probably other factors at play with the employees as well.

Comments like that are one of reasons I largely stopped reading tech blogs...

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Sonciary Honnoll — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:14:45 -0000

"You measure people by the work they produce, not by the number of hours they put in."

Right on.

"What are the companies which do not have A holes?
How do you find them? advice needed."

I'm currently at a web start-up, BizUnite. We have a "no a holes policy" and so far, it's worked! It can be done!

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Joe Cascio — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:16:40 -0000

Although I haven't met Calacanis, all I've read about him, including the foregoing, leads me to believe that he's the asshole you warn people not to tolerate.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

For the Newbie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:52:23 -0000

@63 Unfortunately, it's hard to know before you get hired and, if you got into a slave-pit like the kind of purgatory some people believe a startup "should" be.

However, Googling for every mention and blog-post about a company before you accept a job offer can really prevent you from making that sort of mistake.

For example, 37Signals just made a very favorable impression on all prospective employees when they openly opposed underpaying & overworking their people.

I, for one, would accept a job with them before working for a company run by a soul-crusher any day. Even if the soul-crusher paid more...

And since happy, passionate, and productive employees can make (or break, if there is a lack of them) a company, the soul-crushers will start to catch on...eventually.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

newbie — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:41:31 -0000

What are the companies which do not have A holes?
How do you find them? advice needed.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

David Russell — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:00:50 -0000

Firing people for not working during their lunchbreaks? Jesus, he's lucky America has third-world labour laws. In Europe that would be a lawsuit at the very least.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Microsoft Long-Timer — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:04:46 -0000

Re $400 hotel room -- there are (still) a lot of folks at Microsoft who try to stay in relatively inexpensive hotel rooms.

Family and slacker are not synonymous. Yes, family does take up time that once would have been spent at work. As we get older, we, I hope, learn to focus more, to make the most of every minute no matter where it is spent. I'd certainly rather work with someone who busts their hump at work ten solid hours a day and then goes home to be renewed with family than someone who is present but not deeply engaged for 15 hours.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Maurice — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:42:15 -0000

Having a seinor post filed by someone with such poor social skills doesnt help a start up as well.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Really? — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:44:28 -0000

My life is worth more than $35K. Maybe yours isn't... ?

Penny pinching for startups is common sense. No prob. If you don't do it, you're dumb.

But the rank-and-file also won't get the (potential, mind you) big rewards at the end of it all. Expecting the same commitment and obsessiveness out of the "little guy" (i.e. working until 3 a.m.) for naught but $30 - $35K is just evil...crushes morale, and dooms your company to high-turnover and sky-high recruiting costs, because eventually the word will get out "Don't work at *comany name here* they're evil!"

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Michael Sheehan — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:29:11 -0000

Jason is spot on. I run a small emerging technology company in the UK and its no environment for those who cant cope with an "all hands on deck" mentality and 3am Caffine fueled working.

As for smokers, just don't hire them in the first place! They clearly have a death wish, they do take more breaks and it looks really bad when customers turn up and you see nicotine junkies loitering outside the office doors.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Michael Markman (Mickeleh) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:05:03 -0000

I love it when people comment that Robert tricked them into reading a dumb post with a great headline. C'mon, if you didn't find a reward in coming here, you'd stop falling for it. (Counter theory: There is no Robert Scoble. An evil genius named Christopher Coulter has created the Scoble persona in an elaborate plot to provide a forum for his own rants.)

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

nick halstead — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:22:18 -0000

I could not agree more with you Jason & most of Mike's points he has made. There are lot of idiots out there who feel you can do this without compromising how much time you can spend with your family. If anyone thinks you can work 9-5 and make a success then they need their heads examining. I have worked 12 hour days for nearly a year now and then I get home and blog, I read all the latest news of the day, keep involved, twitter / etc - it all takes stupid amounts of time - and without it we would not have got to the position we are now.

sent from: fav.or.it [FID39983]

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Comic Strip Blogger — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:39:33 -0000

firing smokers is good business decision in any case! at least one thing I agree with ;-)

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Scott — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:08:28 -0000

I think it's kind of BS that startup founders expect their employees to work like mad but we all know that many of the people at the bottom or middle never get anything even if they pour sweat and tears into their work. Only the people at the top will benefit. Not saying all founders are like that but I would say many are less inclined to give out stock so easily these days and when you give years of your life for a few thousand shares compared to millions and hundreds of thousands to the top people, one easily becomes disenchanted with the whole process.

Sure, people can work like crazy. But here's a thought. reward the top performers like crazy, as you reward others at the top.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Anand — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:21:31 -0000

Ha ha .. Techneers are now following the celebrity footsteps for publicity.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Steve — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:43:56 -0000

@40 You'll have to forgive Arrington. He went to law school.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

zacinak — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:42:13 -0000

WOW I guess the comments here are not as bad at techcrunch but really people read the original article. I work for a small business owner who works harder then anyone so when she ask to work late I know I am not the only one working hard. My boss expects me to work hard and I do why should I expect to coast?...

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Jeremy Toeman — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:18:35 -0000

IMHO, it's not about "slackers", it's about those who aren't playing the team game. You don't have to pull 100 hour weeks to be productive - and this is not advocacy for 4-hour nonsense either.

Practice common sense, have a team with passion, and lead them toward a goal. It ain't too tricky.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

bj manzini — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:21:36 -0000

fyi, it's "acerbic," not "ascerbic."

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Jeremy — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:30:10 -0000

Sharing hotel rooms on business trips is ridiculous (unless you work with your wife or a hottie whose home-life is unsatisfying).

In the US, stay at a Mircotel or Motel-6 (where you can often get two rooms cheaper than one room elsewhere).

Work from home as many days as possible.

Check e-mail only thrice per day: noon, 4:00pm, and first thing in the AM.

File your expense reports as soon as possible, every time. Don't forget to include every driving mile and every hotel tip. There's nothing worse than lending your employer money, interest free.

The real key to personal success is spending considerably less than you earn and saving/investing the difference in common-sense things (e.g. not penny stocks or start-ups)...

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Krish — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:13:29 -0000

I have seen my fair share of startups. Even now I work 14 hours a day. But you cannot call people who want to spend quality time as slackers. I have seen many people who work just 8 hours a day and who are more productive than people who slog 14-16 hours a day. This kinda characterization as people who don't slog 14-16 hours a day as slackers is like Bush's assertion that anyone who doesn't agree to his view of the world, are terrorists. I have seen so many people who had worked 8 hours a day (leaving home exactly at 5 PM)and produced more work than those people who live in the company. Efficiency is not directly proportional to the number of hours logged. Period. If startup founders cannot understand it, it is their own funeral.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Steve — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:43:38 -0000

@33. As opposed to 9 p.m. in the morning? Stayed until 7:00 PM??? WOW! Now THAT'S burning the midnight oil!. I guess Jason subscribes to the "any PR is good PR" theory.

Re: Calacanis is right: startups can’t afford slackers

Robert Scoble — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:31:08 -0000

I have a lot more to say back, I'll write up another post about this.