I'm surprised that there aren't dozens and dozens of comments here lauding Lampert's behavior and business strategy here. After all, tech and HN are chock-full of libertarians and Ayn Rand lovers.
Followers of Rand don't have much patience for the failure stories, because those are clearly the fault of those who failed. Probably for not Randing hard enough. ;)
Are you being sarcastic to imply the stereotype is false, or genuinely surprised?
I can't remember seeing anyone defend him much anywhere, and even though I don't think much of libertarianism and Rand these days, it would be interesting to read a defense by someone who was reasonably intelligent and had done some research beyond just listening to the stuff everyone repeats. I have a feeling that even though his management may have been destructive, the stories are greatly simplified and distorted to make good stories.
