
You're not the CEO - You're the Fucking Janitor - zbruhnke
http://www.zachbruhnke.com/youre-not-the-ceo-youre-the-fucking-janitor
======
michael_nielsen
Seems appropriate to quote an old HN comment
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3905794>):

"After the first night of the 2008 SciFoo conference at Google, @gnat
Torkington's twitter stream contained a gem: 'At SciFoo opening session. 300
people standing around networking. Meanwhile, Larry Page is quietly unpacking
chairs at the back of the room.' (from memory, not exact)"

The CEO (or any leader)'s job is to make sure that whatever needs to be done,
gets done. Sometimes, that means unpacking the chairs.

~~~
blhack
I'll share a story an interaction with a company that I worked heavily with
while we were launching (this is a startup in a fairly niche, non-technical
space. A smallish company with around 200 employees):

The "CEO": This guy had a large stake in the company. It was his baby, and
while the "CEO" title (which I think gets _way_ over applied) fits him, his
official title is "managing partner". While we were in the process of
build->launch, he was _heavily_ involved in literally every single department.
Not in a micro-managing way, in an "this needs to be done and here, I am going
to help" way.

It would absolutely not have seemed strange to me, or anybody else, to see him
out on a scissor lift with a hammer drill and some cables mounting something
to the wall, if that's what was needed. When we _did_ launch, some things
went...wrong.

The night before we opened, he, as well as some of his _friends_ , not even
people employed by us, spent until almost-down doing "grunt" work. Dirty,
tedious work moving huge heavy things around, and walking all over the place
to get them.

That night he slept here (so did I)

The months leading up until that launch, and the months following it, he was
here until well after dark because a lot of the people who had been hired were
"green", and had no idea how to do their job yet. We were _all_ figuring it
out as we went.

The culture here at that time was addictive (and I wish we could get that
feeling back of "making it up as we go". We've got everything pretty well
dialed now). People throw the cliche of "we were a family" around pretty
liberally, and I'm going to throw it around too.

We were a family.

We ate together, we drank together, and the "core" group always left together,
meaning that nobody left until _everybody's_ work was done. (including the
managing partner, who absolutely didn't need to be, and was the one setting
the example).

This has been an absolutely _amazing_ company to work for. The culture here
was, or is amazing.

The sad bit is that a lot of the culture that I fell in love with has faded.
Yes, we're growing (rapidly! Awesome!), but we've more-or-less all hit our
grooves. I know what I'm doing, the "CEO" does to, and there aren't really any
scissors lifts or hammer drills left.

\---

I guess I'll end the story with a question: how do I/we get back to that?

~~~
Mz
_how do I/we get back to that?_

If I am reading this correctly, you currently have around 200 employees and
presumably started with less than that. If that is correct, break it up into
two separate groups smaller than 150. Any time any part of the company grows
beyond about 150 people, repeat. (Read "The tipping point" for longish
explanation why. Short version: The typical human brain is designed for a
"tribe" size of about 150.)

~~~
rhizome
It's called the Dunbar number, and it varies:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbars_number>

~~~
Mz
Thank you. That is why I said things like _typical_ human brain and _about_
150.

As I understand it, Napoleon inspired such loyalty in spite of how he treated
his people because he could greet everyone by name and ask how their wife
Elaine was doing, etc. It made everyone feel he caredabout them personally. I
had similar talents when I was younger but never really knew what to do with
it as I was a homemaker, but I am familiar firsthand with the types of
emotional responses it inspires from people.

~~~
btilly
My grandfather co-founded an engineering company. One of the things he had to
do was sales. His trick was that the first time he visited the company, he'd
ask to get a company directory. The second time, he'd review that directory
(which in those days typically had pictures), and when he walked in he'd greet
everyone by name.

He was a very effective salesman.

(BTW the company still exists, <http://cmtengr.com/> is their website. My
grandfather was Ray Tilly.)

~~~
lsc
I was talking to a friend of mine a bit ago; I was saying that I wanted some
sort of wearable computer rig to do facial recognition for me; I thought that
was one of the things holding me back as a bizdev guy. I'm bad with both faces
and names.

My friend told me that he could remember faces well, but that more often than
not it contributed to awkwardness when he could remember the other person's
name, but the other person couldn't remember his.

~~~
Mz
My oldest son and ex husband are both really terrible with faces. I have
gotten pretty bad at faces in recent years, but the evidence is that as my
health issues resolve, _some_ of my lost abilities are returning. I feel
really weirded out when people talk to me like they clearly know who I am but
I don't recall having seen them before. I try to not let it show and I try to
interact in manner which honors their apparent assumption that we are
acquainted. I also just tell people I have a medical condition/crappy
eyesight/am terrible with names and faces, etc. I ask "What was your name
again?" People seem to appreciate that I am interested and don't seem to hold
it against me that I am handicapped.

My ex was career military. He relied on nametags. My son has done some reading
on faceblindness. Faceblind people often identify people by voice or some
other trait instead of by face. Sometimes it goes largely unnoticed because
they find another means to recognize most people reasonably quickly.

~~~
lsc
I dono. The times I've played along were always really awkward. It's usually
easier if I say something like "who the hell are you?" (I mean, in a joking
way; and with a "I'm horrible at faces" and story about how I was calling the
new guy at one of my jobs "David" for 6 months before someone else pulled me
aside and told me he was really "dennis" - see, our email standard was first
initial lastname, and I remembered people by email aliases. I then mention my
desire for some kind of wearable facial recognition rig.) I mean, I cultivate
something of a coarse image, and I think I can usually pull that off in a
friendly and self-deprecating kinda way.

In general, the sooner I get it out there, the better off the conversation
goes. The worst is when I get their name and I still don't remember context. I
mean, an ordinary wearable rig with a twiddler and an email lookup would take
care of that.

~~~
Mz
I am in a different social setting than you and I seem to have a different
skill set. It wasn't exactly intended as advice. I am not fond of advice.

For me, getting to be on the other side of the equation has been a growth
experience. People with the kind of innate abilities I had frequently become
what I view as con artists and master manipulators. I think they don't
necessarily intend for it to be that way. They just don't necessarily
understand what it is like to be at the disadvantage. I hope more of my innate
abilities return. But I cherish the lessons learned from walking a mile in
their shoes. It has made me a better person.

Peace and best of luck.

------
kevinalexbrown
"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to
subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it,
mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and
then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this
history; _for, even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I
should probably be proud of my humility._ " Benjamin Franklin (emphasis mine,
and added only semi-seriously: how do I discuss the humility I take pride
in?).

~~~
sp332
Humility isn't thinking poorly of yourself, humility is not thinking of
yourself at all.

~~~
chernevik
Yes. More from Mr. Lewis:

". . . . a man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own
talents at all, since he can very well go on improving them to the best of his
ability without deciding his own precise niche in the temple of Fame."

~~~
Angostura
Until or she has to write a C.V. It's the worst thing in the world. I hate it.
"I achieved the following..." well yeah, but with quite a bit of help from the
people around me.

------
coderdude
It's important to remember that the CEO/founder role is where the buck stops.
You're ultimately responsible for every mistake and fixing it. He's right that
it's not glamorous. I think that if you're a sole founder you figure this out
pretty quickly though. And as a rule of thumb: Always ignore Silicon Valley
hype.

By the way: writing words in ALL CAPS, _italicizing lots of things_ , and
saying 'fucking' a lot made it painful to read that blog entry.

~~~
zbruhnke
Thanks for the feedback.

I typically italicize and bold things in an effort to break up the black/white
monotony of my site but I'll keep the advice in mind and maybe go back and
make some edits.

As for the 'fucking' I agree, it was actually pretty hard to write too. I grew
up in a middle class family in the South most of whom would be appalled by the
way this post was written(the language) but I thought it put some fire to the
post, and the title as well.

~~~
dmlorenzetti
My reaction to your use of "fucking" wasn't that it appalled me in some
moralistic or linguistic sense. Rather, I felt like it (partially) undermined
the point of your post.

The post is about how being CEO isn't all glamor, and includes doing dirty
work as well. And you make clear that you feel the janitor, unlike a
figurehead who merely signs documents, contributes something useful and
necessary to the enterprise.

Unfortunately, denigrating the janitor by tagging the role as "fucking" just
buys into the CEO-as-glamorous-leader mindset that the post argues against. It
transforms the title from a correction ("You think you are the CEO, but in
reality you are in charge of the dirty work") into a put-down ("You think you
are the CEO, but in reality you are the lowest of the low.")

Yes, it sounds stronger-- but, in my mind, it shades your meaning in ways you
probably don't intend.

~~~
batgaijin
The fuck.

What is up with this opinion? Fuck means sex. Why do we call these words
obscene? Do you honestly think those words entered daily use? "Grab the
fucking milk" said without any emotional meaning. People would actually reason
more.

It's a prohibition on words, that makes them mean more artificially while
contributing no logic to the discussion.

How dare ye try to elate an emotion in me! How dare ye!

Edit:I'm an idiot and wrote an argument to something you didn't say, but I'll
leave it here cause it took me 5 minutes to write on the phone keyboard.

~~~
unimpressive
> Edit:I'm an idiot and wrote an argument to something you didn't say, but
> I'll leave it here cause it took me 5 minutes to write on the phone
> keyboard.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs#Loss_aversion_and_th...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs#Loss_aversion_and_the_sunk_cost_fallacy)

EDIT: In other words, it's even more idiotic to leave it here after you've
determined it was a mu post.

~~~
batgaijin
Hey I'm happy to live in a world of honest assholes.

~~~
DiabloD3
Yeah, its the dishonest ones that fuck it up for everyone else.

------
smiler
Seriously, does anyone take anyone seriously who calls themselves CEO, CTO or
CFO of a 5 man company? How about owner or founder. Maybe it's a cultural
thing but here in the UK we'd definitely laugh at someone calling themselves
that unless it was a company of a considerable size.

~~~
notatoad
My boss (at a 3 person company) calls himself the president. I laugh at him
for it, but ultimately I can't really criticize. Solo founder is a hard job,
and if you're doing it why shouldnt you be able to call yourself whatever the
hell you want? It's not like there are a whole lot of other perks, and what's
the harm?

~~~
rlu
The harm is it often comes with a bad attitude, whether on purpose or not.

------
steve8918
A friend of mine is a multi-millionaire from running her own chain of nail
salons. She is always going from store to store, checking on each store and if
the store is busy, she'll be the first one taking the used foot water used for
pedicures, sweeping, etc, doing whatever it takes to make sure the nail
salonists can do their job, and also so that the customer is happy.

She deserves every penny of her wealth.

------
pbiggar
I heard an anecdote a while back. One day, the employees of a small company
arrive at work to discover that someone has taken a shit on the floor. Who's
going to clean it? The owner of course. He didn't hire anyone whose job is to
clean shit up, he can't reasonably expect any of them to do it, so he has to
do it.

~~~
ams6110
At the last small company I worked for, I came in one morning to find the CFO
plunging the toilet and mopping the floor where it had overflowed. I laughed
and made some comment about dedication to the company, he laughed and said
well we don't have a cleaning staff so someone's gotta do it.

~~~
sharkweek
My dad owns a janitorial company of about 15 employees who service one local
area of commercial offices. The janitorial service of the warehouse is paid
separately to the employee who handles it. I always thought this was funny,
but I appreciate the fairness.

------
MaxGabriel
If you can make a definite judgement of someone based on their job title alone
('Intern'), you're already lost.

~~~
zbruhnke
Could not agree more Max

------
DanielRibeiro
This is also a famous quote from Steve Jobs[1]:

 _Steve Jobs: (what the CEO does) I don't know. Head janitor?_

[1] [http://hot-facts.blogspot.com/2011/10/facts-about-steve-
jobs...](http://hot-facts.blogspot.com/2011/10/facts-about-steve-jobs-apple-
co-founder.html)

~~~
objclxt
Actually, Steve Jobs' most famous janitor analogy takes it in completely the
opposite direction - CEOs aren't like janitors, he says, because janitors are
allowed to have excuses when things fail, and CEOs aren't.

[http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-07/tech/30043798...](http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-07/tech/30043798_1_janitor-
steve-jobs-excuse)

------
rickdale
I work with a small pharmacy that only has 5-6 employees. Every time I go
there to meet with the owner hes on his hands and knees vacuuming or cleaning
something. The last time I saw him there he was calking a chair back together.
His exact words were, "Back to basics."

------
iuguy
In the UK we tend not to use CEO, we tend to use the term director or managing
director.

In my day job I'm the technical director at Mandalorian. It's a cool job, but
I'm generally pretty overloaded and usually underpaid. I don't do it for the
cash or free time, that's for sure, but I do love making a difference for our
customers. In a strange way I took this approach to 44Con. Everything I do at
44Con is about making sure the delegates have a good time and learn something.
If we need to put leaflets on seats, I'm out there. If a delegate has a
problem, I want to know so I can fix it.

A large part of startup success seems to be sales, but we shouldn't undersell
the delivery and relationship aspects. If your customer is struggling to deal
with you, then you're doing it wrong. If your customer has problems that you
just can't fix, you're doing it wrong.

I'll be the first to admit I've failed on both parts on occasion, sometimes
simultaneously, but it's our ability to learn from these things that sets the
smaller guys apart from the bigger.

I'm the equivalent of a CEO at Mandalorian, but I'll proudly clean toilets if
it makes for a better experience.

------
adrianhoward
There was a startup I did some work for a few years back.

The CEO attempted to remove himself from the washing up rota in the kitchen
when a new employee came on board.

At this point I knew the company was doomed :-)

------
tezza
My Wife owns a cafe underneath some flats.

Occassionally the flat sewerage backs up and effluent pours into the cafe
basement.

My Wife as the owner is the one there ungumming the pipes until a plumber can
be hailed.

------
andrewfelix
_"You're not the CEO - You're the Janitor"_ Would have been a perfectly
fitting title. The use of the metaphor 'Janitor' was enough. Honestly does the
profanity really add to the impact of the message?

------
iuguy
In the UK we tend not to use CEO, we tend to use the term director or managing
director.

In my day job I'm the technical director at Mandalorian. It's a cool job, but
I'm generally pretty overloaded and usually underpaid. I don't do it for the
cash or free time that's for sure, but I do love making a difference for our
customers. In a strange way I took this approach to my other thing, 44Con.
Everything I do at 44Con is about making sure the delegates have a good time
and learn something. If we need to put leaflets on seats, I'm out there. If a
delegate has a problem, I want to know so I can fix it.

A large part of startup success seems to be sales, but we shouldn't undersell
the delivery and relationship aspects. If your customer is struggling to deal
with you, then you're doing it wrong. If your customer has problems that you
just can't fix, you're doing it wrong. If you're sat in an ivory tower and
refuse to get out and fix it when these things happen then you're doing it
wrong.

I'll be the first to admit I've failed on all parts on occasion, sometimes
simultaneously, but it's our ability to learn from these things that sets the
smaller guys apart from the bigger ones. Startups can make small mistakes, the
established companies make far bigger ones without noticing.

I'm the equivalent of a CEO at Mandalorian, but I'll proudly clean toilets if
it makes for a better experience for our customers. Hoops? I live to jump
through them, and I expect that from everyone I work with.

------
dpe82
My company went through TechStars this Spring and on Friday closed a
respectable seed round. On Sunday I was scrubbing the floor in our office.

Being a startup CEO is glamorous only in the movies or in overly hyped bits
and pieces. It doesn't completely suck, it's awesome at times and on average
is more interesting than anything else I've done. But worthy of sharing
intimate details as if I'm some amazingly interesting creature to be worshiped
and followed? Please.

Customers make a successful company, not CEOs.

------
tdorrance
Good post Zach. In fact, even though the CEO is company leader and the vision,
if you got a startup of five I'd say everybody's the janitor! Titles mean very
little in the early days when you're trying to launch a product. Everybody
needs to be marketing, sales, product development, finance and legal - and of
course the janitor crew. btw, good content outweighs format any day...

------
peapicker
Enough with the articles with curse words in the title. Grow up, little boys.

~~~
vacri
I find it ironic that you have a problem with curse words as they represent
immaturity, but you're fine with throwing demeaning insults at people.

~~~
peapicker
No irony in called a spade a spade. In my opinion, it the sign of a weak mind
to need to use profanity to express strong emotion, of trying to 'write with
fire' but failing utterly. A great writer never will need to resort to that so
frequently, and then, when used super rarely, it is powerful. Used a lot, just
meh -- and weak. Like an unrefined learner, a boy.

~~~
Retric
Only a child responds strongly to the world fuck. Most teenagers go through a
phase of using it every third word. But, most adults I know only revert to
peppering there language with it when they feel a type of mild annoyance.
Normal speech and strong emotions evoke their own unique responses, but
dealing with self absorbed idiots for to long and you think they might have
Tourette syndrome while they unwind.

------
guynamedloren
I almost completely agree with this post.

However, if you spend a _huge chunk_ of your time as a CEO (or
founder/owner/whatever) performing a single task (or multiple rudimentary
tasks) that could be performed better and more efficiently by a hired employee
instead of using your experience to grow and propel the company, then you're
doing something wrong.

------
cs702
This article reminds me a bit of 'the parable of the silver bowls:'
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzqO6UOPFQ> \-- regardless of the size of the
organization, its leaders are the ones who _must_ deal with the stuff no one
else can or wants to tackle.

------
swlkr
Working in a cubicle isn't glamorous either.

At my last job I took out the trash when it needed to be taken out and I was a
software engineer, that's just common courtesy.

Being a CEO would be an upgrade for me in every way no matter how many
articles swear that it's the worst thing in the world.

------
meiji
The problem doesn't just exist with small companies and startups. I've worked
with C-level people from established companies who are no more self-aware;
they feel the job title makes them important rather than responsible. They
feel the job title means they work less rather than work more. In both cases
the latter is true.

I'd take someone seriously as a CEO if they behaved like one and that includes
involving your colleagues in what you do, be they the board of a fortune 500
company or a few interns for a bootstrapping startup. The arrogance that you
are the only person who has good ideas is what kills companies and that goes
double for startups of any ilk.

------
rcvassallo
I just saw this at my job last week - literally.

Walked into the bathroom and the CEO was in action with a mop in his hand. He
looked up and said "Oh hey I'll be out of the way in a few seconds, sometimes
the toilet in here leaks."

------
cramborghini
This really struck a chord with me. My Job title on my public facebook page
has been CEO/Janitor for about a year now. It started off as a joke, but
eventually I came to realize the truth behind it.

------
flocial
I love this post. We romanticize startups too much and I've seen too many
people drunk on cheap venture capital and a C-level title on their business
card.

Some of it is inevitable because if we saw what being a CEO really is then
less people would try it. Being a CEO is always hands on. You can't just
manage from behind with a small team. Dave McClure recently said something
like, "if you're the CEO and can't code, market, sell, or design then fire
yourself now or we will."

------
jayzee
What's wrong with being a janitor?

~~~
zbruhnke
Nothing at all. That's something I think I did not portray clearly enough in
this post. There is nothing wrong with being a janitor. Someone has to do it,
the point was really to display that you have to do anything and everything
necessary to make your company successful. Titles are bullshit and egos should
be checked at the door.

~~~
jayzee
In that case it would be nice if people would stop bashing janitors.

~~~
mattdeboard
Who is bashing janitors?

------
isalmon
In my opinion CEO title should almost never be applied in a startup
environment. It just shows how small you really are when you talk to people. I
remember was working for one startup where we had CEO, CTO and me. How
ridiculous it was before I came when the company consisted of exactly 2 people
- CEO and CTO?

------
molossus
With all due respect, when you submit _your own blog post_ to HN, you could at
least have the courtesy to take 5 minutes to proofread it. And when you don't,
it comes across as unprofessional and undermines any ethos you may have had,
and I am very unlikely to read past the second paragraph.

------
nothacker
Really great post. The only thing I was expecting that wasn't there was
something about having to be the janitor when it came to cleaning up other
messes, like having to let people go, and then having to keep yourself from
getting jaded and not taking firing someone seriously enough later.

------
sl4yerr
Your point would be more clear if the article wasn't troubled with spelling
and grammatical errors. Just like a programming language, English has a
syntactical and grammatical form for a reason: it makes it less likely to be
interpreted incorrectly.

------
tomasien
Not a fan of the title.The post doesn't even go on to argue that "you're" not
the CEO, just that "you're" ALSO the janitor. So "You're the CEO - but You're
Also the Fucking Janitor" would be more accurate.

~~~
zbruhnke
OP here: Sorry about that, really what the post was meant to say is that if
you think of yourself as the CEO there is already a problem, but if you think
of yourself as the Janitor you're probably in the right mindset for success.

Did not really expect the post to trend up HN so fast, but thanks for reading
and for the feedback!

------
gamzer
When you finished being the janitor, you could be the web developer for a
moment and fix the navigation which floats _above_ the text of the article on
my Android phone when zoomed in via double tap.

~~~
jefe78
Second that. Was pretty annoying during my commute.

------
colindoc84
Starting off with a strawman is a good way to write a bad blog post.

------
lcusack
I was impressed a while ago when a CEO actually named himself the "janitor"
Check out:

<http://www.thenoteboard.net/faq.html>

Scroll to the bottom

------
g-garron
when I started my company (telecom supplier). I was the CEO (company of 5 at
that time). I was also the sales guy, and very often the technician who was
installing what was sold.

If you really want to succeed you really need to do anything, once your
company grows, you will have other people doing those tasks for you. Not
because it is not good for you to do them, simply because you will have no
time anymore.

As an engineer, I still miss installing what we sell now a days.

------
miyudreams
Great post, fun read. It's great to have a team where everyone contributes
even if it includes cleaning up the office space and throwing out the trash.

------
g-garron
:( another Wordpress site not ready for prime time. :(

------
ZoFreX
Ichiro Lambe of Dejobaan Games actually goes by the title "CEO & Janitor",
which I've always liked a lot.

------
munin
all this talk about pride is hilarious. if you're the CEO of a startup or
small company, you're not working for a paycheck - you're working for a payout
of millions of dollars.

I'll do the dishes if it leads indirectly to a $1.2bn exit. I'd do them twice.

------
xarien
I completely agree which is why I always refer to myself as the monkey and not
the CEO.

------
brandoncapecci
Anybody else think this guy seriously needs to pipe down? He sounds like
37signals minus the success. Every pleb thinks they can do a better job than
the king. Nero thought that too...

~~~
zbruhnke
Did not realize we were comparing successes. But just for your information I
am 25. I had a seven figure exit before I could legally buy beer. I am a
ycombinator alumni and I am building another startup right now that I hope
will have it's own unique impact.

So maybe I'm not DHH but I am certainly not just some guy with a big mouth and
no track record

~~~
brandoncapecci
We weren't. I also didn't think we were parading our medals though clearly I
was wrong in that regard. Is it janitors I'm thinking of that arrogantly brag
about successes? After all, you seem to be the expert on them ;) I have no
desire to take shots at you, so please don't make it so goddamn easy.

37Signals is just a metaphor for any established company. Since you clearly
know of them, you also know they take a lot of shit for claims they make. The
only reason I would so much as give them a second thought is because of their
track record, which, as you noted, isn't yours. In retrospect DHH is far from
the idealistic person to ask this which by pure luck, supports my argument
even better. Don't take it personally as some sort of attack: I'm just making
the observation that there are people who fly around in jets and you are not
one of them. Quite simply, this means your really not in the position to make
assertations about them.

You're giving marriage advice without ever being married. Any ideal is
meaningless until it is thoroughly tested. Your post seems as childish as when
people claim: "I will never steal". I call bullshit. Morality is nice and all
but until you hold it up when you're fucking starving and have reason to
steal, everything you said before is just words on a page.

------
capex
Empathy points for the average janitor: zero.

------
ryanisinallofus
Is it possible to brag about humility?

------
mthreat
At my previous company (where I stayed for 7 years), I remember seeing our CTO
doing the dishes in the kitchen/break room once. This wasn't just in the first
year, but about 5 years in. It didn't surprise me, it was more of a
confirmation of what I already knew about him. The company is pretty
successful today.

------
teksquisite
That was a great read and thank you! BTW - I recently made some new biz cards
and switched "owner" to "CEO" (because I had my QR code printed on them :) and
I still clean toilets and whack weeds...

I think it is all in the mindset. I've met CEO's that think they can walk on
water "Oh, Calgon - take it away..." And I've met CEO's who actually still do
the grunt work. I prefer the latter because you should never forget where you
began...

