Same. Wow. That guy sounds like someone I'd want to work with in the future.
Some of the business people who are viewed as the most heartless and absolute assholes (by outsiders) can be incredibly loyal if you are on the inner circle and can provide you with opportunity. The nice guys can be swayed by others and give you the axe.
Business is business. Being a nice guy doesn't equate to winning in many cases.
Your comments sometimes come off as abrasive. That has no impact on whether I would recommend you or your company for security work (which I have done btw). My wife choose a doctor with a great bedside manner for a difficult operation our daughter needed.[1] I found a world class person who specialized in the exact problem who was almost impossible to deal with and very dismissive. He handled a difficult operation brilliantly. That's what I want the personality is secondary.
[1] Risk of facial paralysis a possibility with bad outcome.
I don't care that he's nice. I care that he cut through the crap.
I don't care who threw the grenade at this point, Mason jumped onto it.
It's a great letter.
This is classy.
The only thing Andrew Mason's jumping on at this point is a pile of Scrooge McDuck money.
I think his point that he "made it so far" on his first try is apropos. He's done a shitload as CEO to capitalize on the opportunity and generate a ton of value (debatable whether that will be long term value) in a way that few people ever do.
To fault the guy for having a good exit letter seems a bit myopic.
I'd argue it is better to work with someone who has made mistakes before (and will be less likely to make them again) than someone who hasn't.
A willingness to admit your mistakes is more than humility, though. It's the first step towards not making those mistakes a second time.
Regardless of how relevant it is to Andrew Mason's case this is a very important point to realize. It certainly was one for me and many others I know of. Mind you, "winning" in this case doesn't only pertain to selfish, zero-sum victories; it's relevant in the boarder sense of "winning": "the art of choosing actions that steer the future toward outcomes ranked higher in your preferences" [1]. Recently I was linked to a Cracked.com article [2] that I think summarizes the difference between "being a nice person" and "winning" in the boarder sense with great, harsh lucidity. Please don't let the tone dissuade you from read the following quote in full.
>Let's say that the person you love the most has just been shot. He or she is lying in the street, bleeding and screaming. A guy rushes up and says, "Step aside." He looks over your loved one's bullet wound and pulls out a pocket knife -- he's going to operate right there in the street.
>You ask, "Are you a doctor?"
>The guy says, "No."
>You say, "But you know what you're doing, right? You're an old Army medic, or ..."
>At this point the guy becomes annoyed. He tells you that he is a nice guy, he is honest, he is always on time. He tells you that he is a great son to his mother and has a rich life full of fulfilling hobbies, and he boasts that he never uses foul language.
>Confused, you say, "How does any of that fucking matter when my (wife/husband/best friend/parent) is lying here bleeding! I need somebody who knows how to operate on bullet wounds! Can you do that or not?!?"
>Now the man becomes agitated -- why are you being shallow and selfish? Do you not care about any of his other good qualities? Didn't you just hear him say that he always remembers his girlfriend's birthday? In light of all of the good things he does, does it really matter if he knows how to perform surgery?
>In that panicked moment, you will take your bloody hands and shake him by the shoulders, screaming, "Yes, I'm saying that none of that other shit matters, because in this specific situation, I just need somebody who can stop the bleeding, you crazy fucking asshole."
>So here is my terrible truth about the adult world: You are in that very situation every single day. Only you are the confused guy with the pocket knife. All of society is the bleeding gunshot victim.
[1] As defined by Eliezer Yudkowsky in http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/.
[2] See http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-yo.... This may or may not be the first time this website is cited on HN.