It's a long life in the small Valley | Hacker News Reader

It's a long life in the small Valley

waxman.me

220 pointsnottombrown32 comments

There's good advice in here and he makes some good points. I'll try to share my (somewhat rambling) take on this.

>Sometimes in the chaotic trenches of a startup people make bad decisions. Your company seems like the only thing in the world and you’re willing to do anything to ensure its survival. You’re stressed and overworked. It can be a recipe for disaster.

In my short experience running a business I've learned that it is indeed very stressful, most of the time. You get it from all angles and chances are you're working day and night at weird hours. You begin to form a bubble around you because all you think about is the company and its success. It's easy to lose sight of other important things like the people around you and the people you interact with. Certainly a recipe for disaster. It is absolutely critical that you keep a level head. Maintain your mental health and don't let things get to you too much. (Thanks go to jacquesm, who helped me with this during a particularly troubling time.)

>At the time it might feel pragmatic [...]

Sometimes I find myself making what I consider to be 'tough calls' or difficult decisions. Often times just trying to go by the book (or the policies I've set). Occasionally the decisions I make leave a bad taste in my mouth. Not because they were necessarily wrong or heavy handed at all. Just that they could have been more right... if that makes sense. It's more than just doing what is pragmatic or technically correct. It is people you're dealing with, after all. There are feelings to take into account.

>You should always treat people with respect, first and foremost because this is how fellow human beings deserve to be treated. But you should also remember that it’s a long life in the small valley.

This is a really important thing to remember. It's easy to get caught up in the heat of defending your position or policies. Nearly all tech startups must work with many people on the web at large. There may be thousands, even tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals that your startup(s) will encounter along the journey. If you really want to cover your bases for your future then be respectful to everyone. (I am also reminding myself here.)

That said I'm not a big fan of the Valley, its relatively small number of players, or the cabals. I wish less advice pretended like it's the only place in the whole wide world. (Then again, if that is your only experience to draw upon I can see why you'd talk about it like that.)

Well said. I'll add that this is true for all parts of life, not just silicon valley.

I can't recall a situation where I wish I had been less respectful of another person, but there's quite a few in which I should have been more so. This is probably true for everyone.

I can, but the number is dwarfed by the number of people I wish I had not pissed off.

It’s never worth maximizing this round at the expense of all future rounds.

Couldn't say it any better myself

This is great advice. Most tech companies are built by the same people, over and over again. The real "Valley" is an incredibly small group of people.

One of the guys who helped get Sun off the ground used to joke that there were about 150 people in the valley who actually created the companies, they would go somewhere, build a company then move on.

It does feel like that sometimes. It was more like that when you would get one big company every 3 - 5 years versus two or three in 2 or 3 years.

One key observation over the years is that the same person who sucks in one job can be a superstar in another job. The 'fit' is as much about responsibility, management, duties, and infrastructure as it is the individual. We hired an engineer at Sun once who came to us via HP and was highly decorated, he was a 'legend', but he could not get anything done at Sun without having his own admin (which is something Sun didn't do). I watched excellent engineers waste away at Google because they didn't have the political skills to avoid having their progress blocked, and watched as really poor engineers benefited out of proportion to the circumstance rather than skill.

How small?

I like this article but I found myself kind of weirded out by the introduction (so here is my version of the intro).

I started using a computer when I was 7. I knew nothing and virtually nobody. It was 1988 and it wasn't easy to learn the ropes back then. This was before much of today's infrastructure existed. There was no broadband or world wide web or wifi or AOL. This was before VGA graphics and the Pentium processor. CompuServe still had more users than AOL. Windows was just getting started.

This is hilarious and insightful. I feel stupid for not seeing this while reading the OP article.

(Why the throwaway account?)

Thanks! It's not a throwaway, I've just been lurking for a few years and never needed to comment before.

I started using a computer when I was about 14. It was 1979. It wan't easy to learn the ropes back then. This was before CompuServe or AOL. An Apple II with 16k of RAM cost over $1000 (in 1979 dollars!) A 1200 baud modem was a really fast network connection. And I had to walk to school in the snow. Uphill both ways of course :-)

I always could tell that Michael had some sort of preternatural gift for great startup advice and just being a generally nice dude, but I had no idea that part of that was from starting a tech company back when he was 19.

Looking back, it makes total sense...

All well and good, but there are people in the valley who interpret any criticism of their ideas, or even insufficient fawning over them, as a personal attack, and immediately label you as a "hater."

There are insecure people everywhere, not just in the valley

Great article.

note to svbtle: the typekit font css is returning a 403.

Great post. When I started working in Silicon Valley over a decade ago, as a fresh graduate from college, I heard, "It's a small Valley" more than I can count. I smiled and nodded, and I didn't really understand how true this statement is.

Every year my career continues, I appreciate it more. Technology companies -- successful ones, at least -- are built around the magic of assembling extremely talented people and focusing their attention on the same set of problems. Companies don't last, but talent usually does, and people grow.

I forget where I heard this saying but I try to live by "you never know who someone will be". I always make a point of being respectful to all members of the team on the other side of the table regardless of weather they are making the coffee, taking the notes or they are the guy holding the purse strings. I think people too often forget that it is possible to get the best outcome from a situation without being an arse.

Nitpicky, but no Twitter or Y Combinator? That's not right. Also Hacker News started early 2007, so wasn't far off.

Also, do not curse out your competitors. You may end up being partners one day, or worse, get acquired by them! I have seen the latter happen and feel embarrassed for those who disrespected others.

I had it happen on Twitter recently after me and someone else were tweeting about Spotify UX choices, I had to chastise the guy from a rival service (I won't say which) and said "If you have to put your competitor down instead of praising them and telling me why you're better, you've failed."

Great advice for everyone, even for those who do not have their own start-ups.

Be resourceful in every situation possible and do not cross line.

I'm curious, what company did you found?

Just a heads up, it's "AngelList".

But what if someone is "dick" to you? How do you handle that? Ignore?

Yes, of course. Refute them if you can do it without being a dick. Ignore them if you can't. Even if you never interact with them directly ever again, they'll talk to other people, and you don't want to give them fuel to burn you with.

Ignore their dickishness, if not whatever content may be wrapped up in it.

Don't argue with the fool/dick/control-freak/etc., you'll have to stoop to their level and they'll beat you on experience.

I like the response "whatever" to such people. It lets them think you really don't care without being too confrontational.

If you have no stake in the argument then it's usually best to just distance yourself from that type of person. Don't allow yourself to sink to their level.

If you do have a stake in it (financial or whatever) then there are books on the subject, but you can get started by searching "how to deal with difficult people"

It's a long life and at 25, you've still got a ways to go :)

Words to live by...

waxman is good people. fact.

> but it’s a horribly bad idea, because, in the language of Game Theory, the startup world is a repeated game.

It is only a repeated game if you fail. If you succeed, then all your "I'm CEO, Bitch" moments will be seen as a sign of confidence and a positive stepping stone on you path to success. If you don't plan to fail, sending stupid email doesn't feel a shortsighted, which is why it happens so often.

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