Why Startups Occasionally Act Like Sociopaths

"There are lots of words about ‘empowerment’ and ‘changing the world’. Frankly, it annoys the shit out of me. "

Me, too.

"the way startups spew forth their good intentions without recognizing the underlying goal of making money makes the whole industry feel unnecessarily slimy."

I'm not sure I understand this. I find it hard to believe that a large portion of startups don't internally recognize the importance of making money. Sure, their public rhetoric might not be centered around the their profit goals for this quarter, but how does that make the industry slimy?

maybe using the language of social reformers when in fact there is a profit motive just sounds disingenuous

I think the current trend now is that it is much better to be a nice person as a startup founder/employee [1]

1. http://paulgraham.com/safe.html