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Comment by ryanwaggoner | Hacker News Reader

I could be wrong, but I think this letter illustrates why why many of us are attracted to startups. This kind of esprit de corps, this sleeping under your desk and working around the clock doing everything you can to move the ball forward, this single-minded insanity that focuses 100% of your effort and will on building something amazing and changing the world forever. Is it probably just naive and idealistic and ridiculous? Yeah, it probably is. But I think at the end of the day, many of us just want to be that committed to something.

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Totally agree. I've found that one of the most depressing things is feeling like a "cog in the wheel". If someone sent me this letter, I WOULD open up the window and scream "I'm going to make this product the best I can", and trust that I will be rewarded for it as a shareholder. That would cast all what I have historically labeled as "cynicism" toward my employer away. I'd believe that they finally "get me".

I guess it's all about just getting the employees and management on the same page and attacking a problem - with a startup it is really easy, since the division between the two is pretty small and blurred. And that's why we love the startup lifestyle.

I would open up the window and say "It's my money, and I need it NOW!".

Okay, that was horrible, and I'm sorry. Apparently, I've been watching too many crappy TV ads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX0fIi3H-es

>> That would cast all what I have historically labeled as "cynicism" toward my employer away.

This is actually a letter to non-employee shareholders... making this much more cooler.

I think you're spot on. An I also think that this is the reason that being a single founder is so hard - there's noone to share your esprit de corps with.

It goes in order of increasing involvement:

Job < Career < Passion < Mission.

Its hard to get to the mission level (and even if you do, I guess it could consume you - and one day you have to realise if it was worth it or not I guess...)

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