
The 10X Hustler - robfitz
http://soundboy.tumblr.com/post/30041060298/the-10x-hustler
======
nnq
@OP: your site is utterly UNREADABLE for me! The Inconsolata font looks ugly-
to-unreadable on Windows browsers at the font-size you use! (Maybe the Mac OS
antialiasing does some wonders or maybe you have Retina display, but PLEASE,
either substantially increase the font size or change the font: on Windows
machines, Consolas is readable at this font-size, so you can just do `font-
family: Consolas, Inconsolata, Monaco, monospace`).

~~~
pattern
I'm on OSX/Chrome21, and it is quite hard to read for me as well. In addition
to exploring other font options, I would recommend you play with the `line-
height` css property to give the text some breathing room!

In the article "Secret Symphony: The Ultimate Guide to Readable Web
Typography" [1] the author covers `line-height`, line width, proportions, and
stresses the importance of getting typography right for to your readers. The
article then goes into some golden ratio stuff, which may be a little more
than you are interested in, but give it a look!

[1]: [http://www.pearsonified.com/2011/12/golden-ratio-
typography....](http://www.pearsonified.com/2011/12/golden-ratio-
typography.php)

------
K2h
For me, Hustler has always had a negative meaning, one I would hesitate to
self label, or be proud if someone else gave me the label. I'm sure it was
that way for the 'hacker' label for those on the outside looking in before
hacker no longer had a negative association.

I'll do my best to keep an open mind on Hustler.

~~~
mindcrime
_For me, Hustler has always had a negative meaning, one I would hesitate to
self label, or be proud if someone else gave me the label. I'm sure it was
that way for the 'hacker' label for those on the outside looking in before
hacker no longer had a negative association._

It's funny, "hustler" definitely has a couple of meanings in American pop
culture that would have negative connotations for most people. To a lot of
people, it means something sorta like "con man" or "pool shark" and the
connotation involves conning people out of their money. To other people it's
synonymous with "drug dealer" which has it's own connotations.

BUT... "hustle" also has a pretty positive association in other contexts. For
example, being a fan of (American)football, you often hear players described
as "having hustle" which basically means "good work ethic, doesn't loaf on
plays, always gives full effort until the whistle, etc."

And now we're seeing this startup related use of the word hustler which, to
me, basically means "entrepreneur with hustle" or "entrepreneur who has great
work ethic, works his butt off to find a way to achieve his goals, has
pigheaded determination, etc." This almost strikes me as combining a bit of
the connotations of the "drug dealer" thing with the football player example.
Not exactly, but you can see elements of both... Anyway, used in this context,
I don't see the problem with "hustler."

~~~
K2h
I had forgotten about the meaning in American sports. That is an outstanding
example of the positive use. Thanks for sharing.

------
kategleason
Engineering is transparent … It is fairly easy to evaluate how good someone
is. Are they a good coder? An ubercoder? Things are different with sales.
Sales isn’t very transparent at all. We are tempted to lump all salespeople in
with vacuum cleaner salesmen, but really there is a whole set of gradations.
There are amateurs, mediocrities, experts, masters, and even grandmasters.
Peter Thiel

~~~
tryitnow
Not sure I understand this. I think it's very hard for engineers and other
Silicon Valley types to evaluate salespeople.

However, in the rest of the business world, a salesperson is about the easiest
potential hire to evaluate. Ask them to pitch the product they will be selling
and then ask to see their past two year's of W2's with their commissions
earnings to see what they've done in the past.

~~~
001sky
May be in part because the parent is paraphrasing, ie, its from another
context, and missing the original frame. Worth checking out, though, original
discussion i believe is here.

[http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/22405055017/peter-
thiels...](http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/22405055017/peter-thiels-
cs183-startup-class-9-notes-essay).

------
granto
I like the way you use that post as a way to recruit the person you just
described. But I agree with PaulHoule that the 10x isn't meant just for
developers.

~~~
ian
i thought it was worth a try. one thing i realised when i made a list of
people who really fitted this description is that in most cases they came
inbound vs being recruited. as a result i've been prepping a series of posts
on distribution/partnerships to see if I can get the attention of the white
whale.

------
001sky
This is a complex subject, and you nailed the 'level of abstraction' nicely in
your piece. That's not an easy thing to do.

On a side note, the USV piece you referenced (from 2006 - on bus dev via APIs)
was interesting in the context of where Twitter is now.

------
JoeAltmaier
In my experience, somehow everybody in the money chain of posession manages to
grab some of it. Never mind the logic; people can't help but wet their beaks.
Socially we rationalize it. It doesn't really make any more sense for a sales
person to have a commission, than the guy that boxes up the product and mails
it.

------
PaulHoule
I think this has always been recognized. This is why salespeople get
commissions.

~~~
seraph787
Why don't developers get commissions then? There are plenty of papers out
there showing monetary reward does not improve people's performance. I have no
idea how sales should be paid though

~~~
wisty
<http://www.ericsink.com/bos/Closing_the_Gap_Part_1.html>

In sales is relatively easy to measure performance. A sales guy's commisions
should be a factor of the value they add to the company based on how much they
sold.

Obviously, they'll be slightly loose cannons (lying to get sales), but that's
part of the cost of having them.

You could just hire sales guys and not pay them a commission, but ... their
intrinsic motivation will be close to zero (would you want to do their job?)
and it's too hard to manage them without incentives.

