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Comment by zzzzz_ | Hacker News Reader

A startup is only concerned with one thing... survival. So an employee's gender, race or sexual preferences is secondary to their ability to deliver results for the business. A perfect environment for meritocracy. IMO startups don't need to worry about diversity because their inherent nature promotes a level playing field.

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Putting some thought into culture helps you avoid problems down the line. First startup I worked for was fun. It was a frat house basically. Looking back, I cringe when I think about how shitty it must have been for the few women who decided to work with us. It's embarrassing actually.

It's not a "perfect environment for meritocracy" and the playing field isn't level man. The sooner we get over ourselves and that idea, the better.

Also, if you lose a tooth, stick it under your pillow, because fairies will come replace it with a dollar bill!

I'm either old as hell or we were broke (maybe both), because I only got quarters!

What happens after the survival stage when there is sizable profit? At that point the company culture might have settled and you ended up with egomaniacs who put profit over everything else in life.

1) At what point do you think there is sufficient/sizable profit? Most high-growth enterprises didn't have much left after spending last years profit on this years growth ... until there was an exit, at which point management wasn't their problem any more.

2) Why would investing in diversity be a detriment to profit growth for your egomaniacs? Are you saying that a diverse workforce is less profitable somehow? If not, what do you mean?

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