
I would never work for Jason Calacanis - There, I said it - marcamillion
http://marcgayle.com/i-would-never-work-for-jason-calacanis
======
praptak
Also, sky is blue. Check [http://www.bnet.com/blog/entry-level/jason-
calacanis-gen-y-j...](http://www.bnet.com/blog/entry-level/jason-calacanis-
gen-y-job-hoppers-are-destroying-america/2283)

Says Calacanis: "... the majority of Gen Y seem to operating under the bizarre
rallying cry of: More money! Less responsibility! Shorter hours! No stress!
More freedom! It’s all about me!"

Yeah, shame on the employees for wanting better job conditions and admitting
they actually care about own interest.

~~~
marcamillion
Jason wonders why people 'job hop' at Mahalo. Are you kidding me right now?

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Actually, we haven't had any (volentary) turnover in about a year. Ever since
we did our "culture document" and started hiring based on it, we've had an
almost _flawless_ hiring process. I'm going to write a newsletter on building
a culture document, so you might want to signup for my newsletter at
www.jasonnation.com.

~~~
staunch
How many non-voluntary in the past 2 years?

------
randall
So being one of the few people in this thread that has worked with Jason, I
wanted to chime in for a second.

Jason is totally demanding and pushes everyone around him to their limits.
Yes. True.

But, underneath all the bulldog, seriously the guy has a heart of gold.
Sometimes he doesn't show it, and even he'd admit some level of narcissism,
but from personal experience, I can fully say that working with Jason changed
my career for the better in every way.

I originally worked with Jason at Weblogs, Inc., and as we were acquired by
AOL, worked with him on the relaunch of Netscape. I went through a personal
tragedy during the launch of the site, and Jason / the team were instrumental
in me coming out of that with my wits about me.

To be clear: Jason is hard to work with. He does joust publicly, which I would
attribute to his form of marketing.

I have absolutely no inside knowledge of his actual tactics, but my guess is
he takes on someone who he knows people don't like, then points out their
flaws over time, figuring eventually he'll come out on top since his side of
the story looks so rosy by comparison. Oh, and he does this by being fairly
hyperbolic. (Mainstream media, junkets in journalism, Gawker, Pay-to-play
angels, SEOs, off the top of my head.)

That all aside, I think working with Jason set me up to have a wide-eyed view
of startups. I treasured the experience, and while I think everyone should
evaluate their personal limits carefully before embarking on a career with
someone who will literally push all of them, I don't think anyone who's worked
with him has regret the time they spent with Jason. That doesn't mean all of
them want to work with him again... but I heartily encourage anyone who wants
to be pushed to work with him. It will be a hugely rewarding experience
professionally. It was for me, anyway.

~~~
marcamillion
Randall...well said. I don't doubt that Jason has a 'heart of gold'. I tend to
find that people that are extremely passionate about things, do/say incendiary
things that tend to attract attention (both good and bad).

I respect him for having the balls to say what he really thinks. Not many
people do. However, I don't believe that he really believes everything he
says. I think he has reached the point where he realizes the pay off (lots of
attention), that it becomes naturally for everything he says to come out like
that.

I am sure that many people would be pushed, but you can push people (and get
the most out of them) without being a tyrant.

For instance, I played the violin for many years (save the 'he is a pussy for
playing the violin' comments...kthnxbi) and had several teachers. I had a
mix...some that were clearly doing it for just a paycheck (not pushing me
enough), others that pushed me tyranically (a la Calacanis style) that I
rebelled against and didn't perform like I knew I could, and my last one that
was absolutely amazing at pushing me to leaps and bounds in a much shorter
time than I had ever thought I could reach. So much so, that even though I
spent an aggregate of 6 or 7 years with the first 2 or 3 and only progressed
let's say '2 or 3' levels, with the last, in the space of 2 years, I
progressed 6 or 7 levels and actually became a teacher myself - learning those
same techniques of learning how people learn and how to get the best out of
each individual and pushing them to achieve their best using a mechanism that
will work with them.

So I say that to say, that every manager/leader wants the best out of their
people. Some take a blanket approach (like Jason seems to have done) that, in
my opinion, don't work in the long-run and in aggregate...and more importantly
would never work for me. Hence the reason for my blog post.

------
mikerhoads
I worked for him for the first 2.5 years of Mahalo. I got hired right after
dropping out of college. During my time there I was promoted twice, got to
spend 3 months paid to live over seas and went to a party at the playboy
mansion.

Say what you will about him or his style but my experience was was a net
positive and if you turn the clock back and I'd do it again.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Watching you go from drop out to samurai/killer/jedi has been thrilling. Some
day you'll start your own company, present at the Open Angel Forum and launch
at the LAUNCH conference (www.launch.is), and I'll be lucky enough to
invest!!! Keep rocking Mike!

------
prs
Surely there has been lots of debate about his statements in the past. Rather
than spending time on his polarizing way of gaining attention, the best
solution is to let him do business his way and channel our energies into more
productive directions. The last time I checked, no one is forced to work for
Jason.

On a minor side note: Am I the only one to notice that he seems to move quite
a lot with his body during the interview?

~~~
jammons
Yeah, as an employee at Mahalo, I can confirm that no one is being forced to
work here.

~~~
marcamillion
Lol Jammons. Don't mean to call you out on that...but it's ironic that the
positive comment you could muster was that 'no one is being forced to work
here'.

~~~
jammons
That was sarcasm. Thanks for the downvotes though.

~~~
marcamillion
Funnily enough, I never downvoted you once.

Just wanted to set the record straight.

I don't roll like that ;)

~~~
jammons
Much appreciated. :)

------
dangrossman
I really need to write a filter to keep him off my screen, since just about
everything Jason writes or says ends up getting me a bit riled. Just yesterday
he sent out an e-mail saying that if you can't drop $10,000 on a premium
domain name for your unfunded startup, you're not worth investing in... and
proves how easy it is by listing the $133,000 he's spent on domains himself.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Actually, I would re-read the post.

I say clearly that you can start with a good domain that might cost only $10
to $2,000 and THEN use your VC/angel money to upgrade the domain later (like
delicious did, for example).

$133k on domain names is insignificant. Don't be impressed by it... CNET owns
$20M in domains, AOL owns $50m in domain names and there are many individuals
who own millions.

My point in listing the domains I've gotten and how much I've spent for them
is that it is a) not that expensive compared to the value they provide and b)
that I've got some experience in this space and you might want to listen and
read what I'm saying.

Please go back and a) re-read the piece and b) don't be so obsessed with big
number.

jcal

[http://launch.is/blog/2010/12/3/how-to-name-your-startup-
and...](http://launch.is/blog/2010/12/3/how-to-name-your-startup-and-land-the-
perfect-domain.html)

~~~
lenley
You are missing the most mysterious domainer of all time. Google "Yun Ye"

------
anthonycerra
I stopped watching TWiST for a while and almost unsubscribed from his
newsletter because the Arrington drama was very Jersey Shore - minus the fake
boobs.

Despite his personality flaws, which we all have, the guy gives incredible
advice that is actionable. And he does it consistently.

Most popular speakers that we admire give far less valuable advice. The
usefulness of "Be passionate, do less" pales in comparison to "Be consistent,
plan out segments, publish on the same day at the same time".

~~~
marcamillion
Anthony...I have to agree with you that he gives a lot of great actionable
advice. Sometimes, he also spouts something of value (e.g. warning startups
not to build their company on top of Facebook).

But he goes off on so many topics and said such crap some times, that it fully
discounts all the great stuff he has said.

This is one of those things.

Besides, he doesn't just have 'personality' flaws. He seems to be such a
genuine dick. Not the good type that produces insane quality stuff (a la Steve
Jobs). The type that have gotten lucky, and think they are God's gift to
everybody else, and are yet to keep producing. The fiasco surrounding him
berating a now ex-exmployee and his falling out with Arrington and TechCrunch
do nothing but confirm the prick that I think he is.

Time will tell how he fares.

If I were looking for Angel money, I would never take money from him either.

Can you imagine someone like that having leverage over you in any shape or
form? Either a boss or an investor? Hell no!

~~~
anthonycerra
I agree that I wouldn't want him to have leverage over my business - no
argument there.

But I wouldn't excuse Jobs, or anyone else, of having that kind of personality
because it does trickle down into the business. Apple makes incredible
products, but their customer support is miserable. I think it's so bad because
the culture has become "We know better". That comes from the top.

------
birken
You also just wrote a story about Jason Calacanis... The only thing you forgot
to do was link to Mahalo.

You might not want to work for him, but you should at least respect his shtick
is genius and very effective at getting coverage and links, which works nicely
since his company is an SEO play.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Thank you God!!!please include the following links when link-baiting me OR I
WILL NOT tweet you back or link to you from my high page-rank blog:
www.mahalo.com www.calacanis.com www.launch.is www.openangelforum.com

------
alain94040
I flagged this post because it provides no information. If you were an ex-
employee of Jason, then your viewpoint could be interesting.

As it is, this is an attack based on a video interview. You have never even
met the person and have zero first-hand knowledge.

------
maxklein
But he's very successful. Who's viewpoint are we supposed to champion here -
the employee or the employer? Should we not be happy when an employer is
successful and can get a lot from his employees with minimal expense? Does the
process of building a startup not put us squarely in the side of the employer?

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Actually, in startups everyone is aligned in their interest due to stock
options. Anyone who looks at it as employer/employee just doesn't get the
startup dynamic. As an investor in 20 startups I'm constantly pushing to give
more stock options to employees, and as the founder of three companies with
over 100 f/t employees and 250 part-time folks, I'm constantly pushing to
increase stock compensation over cash comp. Why

~~~
maxklein
Why what? Don't leave with that cliffhanger!?

------
WillPao
I wrote my reply on your blog, but I'll re-post it here:

Well, I think you missed Jason's point frankly. He said people who work for
him end up going on to achieve great things, and that is true. Sean Percival,
for instance, worked at Mahalo two years ago, and now he's the VP of Online
Marketing at MySpace. A huge jump in two years (Percival was not a well-known
figure when he started at Mahalo). It seems that many people can use Jason as
a springboard. He is a great connection to have, and if you own stock, you can
probably make a lot of money. (Mahalo will be sold to Demand Media in 2011, so
yes, the product is "great," as in, it will have a solid exit, which is the
point).

Different people respond better to different leadership styles. Some people
could not stand playing for Bobby Knight. Others liked his "I'm going to
challenge you until you break" style. It's really a matter of personal
preference.

------
SudarshanP
Think about this... Jason needs visibility. People who spend so much energy
hating him, provide him the visibility he needs. Some people will hate him
just like some people hate Steve Jobs. Now when an Apple fanboy fights a
naysayer, Apple benefits even if both sides are equally adamant. If a Jason
hater argues with Jason's padawans ;-) with equal enthusiasm, probably Jason
gains. Anyway jason's gains are non measurable but somehow it looks like a
gain to my possibly naive eyes.

But all this has a good side for the entrepreneur... If Arrington and Jason
keep fighting each other the entrepreneur benefits coz no single superpower
rules tech media. They will both need to treat the entrepreneur with more
respect than if they could "collude with each other" ;-).

Jason is notorious enough in the HN circles that if you choose to work for him
after hearing all you have heard, you are either an idiot or a genius. Do the
math of creating ur startup v/s joining him as an employee and if the math
doesn't work out, don't bother to apply :-).

I remember reading a pg essay that each successive employee brings in less and
less value... something like 1:1/4:1/9:...1/n^2

that is not hours of work but value. As the nth employee if you do not get
what u deserve, for creating 1/n^2 of the value, just move on, else stay back.

I hope someone creates a startup that computes a desirability of working with
various startups, angel investors and the like. Something like seatgeek with
parameters like how handsomely the employees are rewarded, how tolerable the
workplace is and so on. I guess there is a smooth curve from being the first
employee to being the millionth. Each person can choose his own sweet spot.

------
dasil003
Neither would I, but does that mean he has a hiring problem? His advice is not
necessarily bad advice for a business. Granted, he'll never create a great
product, but neither will most businesses. If he can drive people to turn a
profit that way, then he'll be doing better than most entrepreneurs. Wanting
people who are willing to work 80 hours a week is probably one of the less
ethically questionable things in his business plan.

~~~
strlen
False dichotomy: either it's working eighty hours a week or working nine to
five.

It's true that employees in a startup should be flexible: being willing to
work late some days, work from home in an emergency, travel with a laptop (in
return, startups are also more flexible: no one cares that you're not in your
desk at 0930 or if you're working from home or a cafe).

However, eighty hour weeks usually happen for very specific reasons and are
followed by less intense periods: it's not a generally applicable way of doing
more with less. If you want to do more with less, hire better people (who
frequently have other options available to them and won't work on a team that
demands eight hour weeks as a matter of routine).

~~~
dasil003
Absolutely true. And if Calacanis meant people who are passionate enough about
what they are working on to pull some late nighters when necessary, vs someone
who punches the clock every day at 5pm and says "that's not in my job
description", then he would find a lot more people in agreement.

~~~
strlen
> Absolutely true. And if Calacanis meant people who are passionate enough
> about what they are working on to pull some late nighters when necessary, vs
> someone who punches the clock every day at 5pm and says "that's not in my
> job description", then he would find a lot more people in agreement.

Absolutely true: as a software engineer, I'm extremely lucky to work on
something I'm passionate about. I am not sure if other professions get the
same luxury. I'm more than willing to stay until up wee hours in the morning,
debugging non-blocking socket code (like I did this Wednesday) whether in a
startup or not, because I actually enjoy this ( _both_ the intrinsically
satisfying work like designing and implementing a new algorithm and less
"glorious" work like this: a sign of a healthy organization is one that
rewards both).

The impression Jason gives off is he wants clock punchers who punch the clock
out at midnight and give the appearance of being busy.

------
jammons
I've been at Mahalo for about 1 1/2 years now, and I can certainly appreciate
what all of you are saying about how I'd have to be an idiot to work here.
Luckily I had no idea who Jason was when I started, so I didn't know all of
the lore surrounding his insanity. Most of it is exactly that. People get
together and sensationalize his attitude and statements (he encourages this a
bit with his public persona, I'll grant you that).

For the most part, working with him has been a pleasant experience. He can
flip out from time to time, often there's a good reason, sometimes not. He's
not much more crazy than any other boss I've ever had, and his contributions
to Mahalo far outweigh any of this.

On the plus side, we get sweet perks, our internal culture is awesome (because
we don't get slackers on the team), and we're doing some very cool stuff on
the technical side of things. (Expect to see more of that in the future, and
if you're ever in LA, stop by the ScaleLA or LA Django meetups we host.)

That said, I'm a little dismayed that hacker news spends so much time
gossiping about Jason. Get over it guys. If you don't want to work for him,
don't. If you do, send over a resume.

------
ddodge
My son Darren works for Jason at Mahalo. He is too busy working to comment
here...so I will for him :-)

Darren works 6 or 7 days a week because he loves what he is doing, and is
learning a ton from Jason. Yes, he is tough and has high expectations. But,
Jason is the best mentor and teacher around.

Jason isn't for everyone, but if you want to rise to the top really fast...a
ride with Jason will get you there.

~~~
marcamillion
Don, I am assuming this is Don Dodge, I won't debate that he can teach you a
lot, and be a great mentor and possibly an awesome angel.

It's the attitude that he has - which we could excuse if his accomplishments
were as big as he makes them seem like they are.

I am not diminishing the fact that he built a company from scratch and sold it
to AOL for $30M. That's not a small feat, so don't get me wrong.

But, that happens almost every day in many industries. There are countless
stories like that, and we don't see all of those CEOs acting like they are
God's gift to technology. Jason acts like that, and quite frankly, when you
compare him to his peers (the YouTube guys, Andreesen, Joshua Schacter, Max
Levchin, etc.) - he comes up short.

As has been said so many times, the only people that I think has the right to
act like that are Jobs, Gates, Bezos, etc. And they don't.

------
p206
This is more a comment on the video interview than the marcgayle.com post. I
don't think Mr Calacanis' statements are incendiary. He explains eloquently
what kind of people and attitude he is looking for, and doesn't seem to have a
problem with people that don't match his requirements. I really don't see the
problem with that.

~~~
marcamillion
I never said they were incendiary. I was simply pointing out that I would
never want to have anything to do with him.

I wouldn't work for him. I wouldn't want him investing in my company. I would
never partner with him.

There is no business relationship, that I can think of, that I would do with
him.

But that's just my preference :)

------
daimyoyo
There seems to be a theme here. "Jason is a jerk because he's overly confident
and brags and expects people to work hard." So? That's the exact type of
person who should be running a startup. When you're facing long odds against
you, only someone who's completely confident in themselves and their idea will
get over the hurdle. Frankly there's almost nothing worse than working for a
meek, type-b manager who doesn't have a clear vision. Believe me, I've done
it. As a side note: I'd work for Jason in a heartbeat, work as many hours as
necessary and do whatever I could to help his company succeed. And I'd
relocate to LA tomorrow if there was a spot for me. Because working there is
worth more than the money you'd make. After you invest your time with him
he'll invest with you. He said as much in the video. Will your boss do that?

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Come by Mahalo for a tour any time! jason AT mahalo.com to set it up!

------
btipling
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmWiYx3qL2U&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmWiYx3qL2U&feature=player_embedded#t=8m34s)
Is when the relevant part starts.

Some of the words he uses like 'lame' and 'weak' kind of is dickish, but I
don't think it's that crazy.

------
uurayan
The irony of this post is that Jason would most definitely not want you in his
company.

In a startup, which his companies are, there really is no room for people want
normal jobs and want to work normal hours. Startup life is a very fast paced
constant swim upstream. You're trying to cram years worth of work into months
to create enormous value as quickly as possible. ALL startups want "rockstar"
employees as they help this process exponentially. What he's stating is not
really anything different than any other start up founder would say he/she
wants, its just he says it in a very inflammatory way.

~~~
marcamillion
Firstly, how do you know he would never want me? I consider myself the perfect
startup employee.

I actually have worked for one startup before and am doing my own right now.

I know about long nights, tight deadlines, and no money.

I know about creativity due to constraints and responding quickly.

I also know about abusive bosses and unproductive labor practices.

I would be hard pressed to find ANY software developer that agrees that they
perform best under a boss like Jason.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Well, I don't know you Marc, so until you come in for an coffee I can't make a
decision on your hire-ability.

Pros: you know how to get attention for yourself by using the classic
Calacanis-HN link-baiting technique; you're not afraid to mix it up in the
comments.

Cons: you seem like a whinny, entitled kid--I'm guessing you complain about a
bunch of tiny things and you'll probably be a rice picker and not a samurai
due to this; your writing is weak, and doesn't show much logical.

Of course, these are superficial judgements.... come to Mahalo for launch next
time you're in Santa Monica, meet the team, see what we're doing and then
write another blog post....

or maybe that would take actual _effort_ as opposed to just firing off a blog
post slamming someone you don't know

~~~
marcamillion
Jason, you are right. The title, and perhaps the content is classic Calacanis-
HN link-baiting. But, quite frankly, you make it too easy.

Naturally, I am not surprised that you think that someone that disagrees with
you (and actually voices an opinion), is a 'whinny, entitled kid'. Further
descending into personal attacks about the likelihood of whether or not I
complain about a bunch of tiny things, is also not surprising and I will not
take them personally.

The unfortunate reality is that when you are a public figure, like yourself,
and you spew consistently 'controversial' comments, you are likely to get
these types of responses.

The next time I am in Santa Monica, although I don't know when that will be, I
would love to come to Mahalo and have a look-see. I don't think that will
change my opinions based on what you portray, but I will keep an open mind.

Perhaps the next time you are in Jamaica, I can show you around.

Not because I don't like your stances on many things (specifically your
opinions on the ways to conduct business), doesn't mean we can't be polite
without getting personal. Disagree while being agreeable.

As a general rule, I tend to wish everyone all the success in the world. But,
to be quite honest, it seems to have gone to your head - although, I don't
know you personally, so that could be a superficial judgement :)

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
It's fairly clear you're a hater. That's OK, there is a lot to hate. :-)

~~~
marcamillion
Just for the record, I am not the one that voted you down for this comment.

------
plnewman
"Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking Jason personally, I just think his work
values are wack. Correction, I think his values (or those that I can see by
his public persona) are wack."

Sounds like he actually is knocking him.

------
dshankar
I don't know Jason Calacanis, his personality or anything. His "I'm never
tired, keep up with me" is.... odd to say the least.

Nevertheless, I do agree with his "I want to surround myself with people who
can work at my pace, work 80 hours a week not caring about life balance."
Maybe not at a large company, but at an early stage startup I WANT people
around me who are working hard and determined to make their product successful
because they care about it.

What's so bad about what Calacanis said? 70-80 hour weeks are not unheard of
in the startup world...

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Please don't introduce a fair and logical argument in this thread or you will
be voted down by the SEOs who have 20 astroturf accounts designed to slam me.

~~~
marcamillion
Jason, I think you need to get over yourself.

When you say the types of things you say, and behave the way you do, the
internet will react in a very predictable fashion.

It's nothing personal. It's a reality that I think you need to accept, and
it's clear that you haven't because you still say things like 'keep hating on
me...I love it'.

You don't. You are just saying that.

Saying things like that, makes you look like the kid on the playground that
bullies everybody and when one day he gets kicked in the balls pretends like
it doesn't hurt and goes above and beyond to show that it didn't hurt, but
goes behind the locker and cries.

Not cool.

------
alexlmiller
Chiming in one more voice from someone who has worked for Jason: Yes, it's a
grind, but he is completely up front about what you're getting yourself into
(and if its not something you're interested in, I'd suggest avoiding it).
However, if it is something you vibe on, it's overall an amazing experience
that gives you many X the experience as you would in most other jobs. There
was some hard stuff to deal with, but don't regret my decision to go work for
him at all and would absolutely do it again given the chance.

~~~
marcamillion
Alex...the problem I have with his shtick, is not that he gives you upfront
what you will get. Or that he is abrasive.

It is this notion that, if you like the way he leads, then you are the best.
If you don't, then you are 'normal'. i.e. bad, and you don't what to succeed.

That's a false dichotomy and it's highly annoying to hear him re-iterate many,
many times.

If he just said, working for me is hell. But, you will get these benefits (all
of which might be very valuable in their own right - I am not degrading the
quality of his network, and his ability to convince other angels to invest in
your next venture).

It's just this 'I am better than everyone' aura that he espouses - in public
anyway.

And as I said in my post, I don't think he has earned the right to be like
that.

Steve Jobs has. Bill Gates has. Bezos has. Larry & Sergey have. But I am yet
to see any of them acting like that. I am sure that all of those guys demand
the most out of their employees and push them to give more than they give.

It's just the abrasive - "I am the best entrepreneur in the Valley" attitude
that I am talking about here.

It's about time we call a spade a spade.

~~~
surfrat
Wow Marc, now I see why you are so upset about Jason. As I mentioned before I
do not agree with his tyrannical leadership methodology, but it seems to have
worked for him in the past and others have testified to its
effectiveness(sometime).

But truth be told we are all adults here and have the choice to work with or
without Mr. Calacanis. That said, your whole point boils down to "he shouldn't
say he, or his way, is the best cause it is making me sick to hear it over and
over again". That, my friend is just juvenile. How old are you again?

Again, if you don't like to hear Jason spout then stop watching his network or
his shows, simple as that. This kind of Jayting is just juvenile and
unproductive. Why does he need to be compared to Bezos et al....what have you
done? The best revenge against people like Jason is to do what you do and
crush it your way. If you are not doing that then find another place to
displace your jealous rage.

All the best.

------
dedward
Why would one post something like this publicly? Don't burn your bridges and
all that.

I swear, sometimes it seems like HN lives in this weird alternate universe
where the rules of normal jobs don't apply....

It's fine if people want more money for less hours and less responsibility -
but they'll be competing with those who are willing to work more hours and
take on more responsibility for more money. If you were the employer, who
would you hire?

~~~
marcamillion
I had been debating on whether or not I should post this, for this very
reason.

However, I think it speaks more volumes about me and who I want to work with,
if I do.

I might not be as rich as Jason Calacanis just yet, but I do have beliefs.

Why should Jason be able to say anything he wants, and not be publicly
criticized for them?

If he doesn't want to do business with me, then that's fine by me.

If someone doesn't want to do business with me because I said I would never
work for him, or do business with him, then that tells me more about that
person - than it does me.

------
fareastenders
Having read the post and comments, the entire argument seems to be "Some don't
want to work for a narcissistic, work-obsessed outspoken boss" and
"narcissistic, work-obsessed outspoken people make it".

You know the single thing that every single successful entrepreneur, in any
field, has in common? They're work-obsessed. They bust their balls. I'd rather
work for someone like JC than a work-shy narcissist.

~~~
HectorRamos
Shhh, don't say that aloud here. You'll get down-voted. I thought Hacker News
was about getting things done and kicking ass, not living the easy comfy life.
Sheez.

------
rebooter
If you have never started a business and suffered the consequences of having
hired the wrong employees you lack the perspective necessary in order to voice
an opinion on this matter. From my perspective, having started several
businesses, succeeded and failed, I see no flaw whatsoever in what Jason is
saying.

The consequences of hiring the wrong people can be dire, particularly when you
need them to perform. I had a director of sales who was instrumental in
killing one of my businesses.

When times got tough he did not have the "killer instinct" Jason talks about.
Sales were down. Times were tough. I relied on him to go turn over rocks and
find sales. Long story short, he just didn't have it in him. I had hired the
wrong person. Funny thing is that there was another candidate that was rougher
around the edges but definitely had the drive. I chose the more "refined"
candidate (in my eyes) and made a huge mistake.

Jason is right.

If you don't understand it's because you lack the context. My favorite Mark
Twain saying applies here:

"A man holding a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other
way".

Hold THAT cat by the tail first. Then you'll have an opinion worth
considering.

------
aresant
I can't help but post the perfect "villain" picture of Calacanis to accompany
this story:

[edit working link]:
[http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4g...](http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4ga0ZJ6Gg3C2SfL299s2ZiEJLKG7Kjp1s)

~~~
ahi
That link doesn't seem to be working so either this one:

[http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRw83HRP_QZgcqkBkSLU...](http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRw83HRP_QZgcqkBkSLUs_sgdX6lYOyEAL47twFtmC963xhvcvo)

or this one:

[http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4g...](http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7wjPbXig0o_I76bh4ga0ZJ6Gg3C2SfL299s2ZiEJLKG7Kjp1s)

~~~
sudont
It's actually blocking based on the referrer.

------
roschdal
Q: "How would you describe your management style, because you have a pretty
unique management style?"

Jason Calacanis: "Yeah, I would say I like people to be able to keep up with
me. Uuuhm. And I don't get tired - I have only experienced being tired a
couple of times in my life, it's typically from running the marathon and so I
need people who are indefatigable, people who have pretty high stamina. I need
people who are intense. I need people who can perform at a high level on a
pretty regular basis. And I need people who are able to engage in debate. And
so I need pretty strong people. I decided I am not going to work for people
who are weak and who are maybe looking for balance in their lives. I do view
doing a startup company like an Olympic sport. You have to qualify for it. If
you don't qualify for it, then you can't be on the team. And if all of a
sudden you get slower, and can't keep up, then you have to leave the team, and
be replaced by somebody who can. And if you have a team of people who are all
Olympic caliber, and who all are running very fast, it doesn't feel like
everybody is running fast, it's just how we run, we are fast runners, or hard
runners. And you just have to hire the right people. So I think I'm intolerant
of average people. I am infuriated by people who make excuses. And so
depending on who comes to work for me, and if you interview 100 people who
have worked for me, if the person was ambitious and hard-working, they would
tell you that it's the best experience of their lives, and that they learned
more working for me, got more opportunity, tripled their salary. I have had
people literally come in, work for me, 30 or 40 thousand dollars out of
school, and then two or three years later would be making 100 thousand
dollars. That's my value proposition. If you come work for me, you are going
to work very hard, not harder than I do, maybe equal, but no harder than I
expect of myself. But you will learn everything, and I will teach you
everything I know. Calacanis MBA in 3 or 4 years. And if you do, then I will
get you a job anywhere you want to work. If you have done 3 or 4 years for me,
I will invest in your company if you come up with a good idea. I will come on
your board, if you come up with a good idea. I will introduce you to anybody I
know, give you recommendation and support you in any way I can. Take the other
half of people, who maybe I've fought with, or fired. or they quit, they
tended to be people who were lame, not hard-working, looking for balance, not
intense, not winners, not looking to succeed, and they would say "Well, I'm
just a normal person". I would say: "Correct, you are a normal person. I am an
abnormal person. You normal person came to work for an abnormal person. I have
abnormal expectations, that are high. You have normal expectations." It's
nothing wrong with that, but that person should have gone to work at the post
office, or Starbucks, or IBM, or whatever place where average people can exist
without having some insane maniac like me say: "Why didn't you figure this
out? Why didn't you work harder? Why did you make all these mistakes?" At a
big company, no one would ever confront them. They would just hide under their
desk, and maybe 9 months later somebody would say: "What do you do here? Oh
cool." And for people who just want to duck down and disappear, there are
plenty of jobs out there. I don't want those. I want samurai. People who come
in and fight, and cut arms off and crash through stuff. If there is a barrier
and a problem, I want people who can just hack their way through it, and not
stop until they are dead or they have killed whatever is in front of them. And
that is a different philosophy than maybe most people have about business."

~~~
mh_
I know it's fashionable to hate Calacanis, but must confess to not finding too
much wrong with the paragraph. I have worked with quite a few people who
wondered "is my name in lights yet?", while wanting work/life balance at the
same time. My personal thought on it was: "we are trying to make a dent in the
world, and it takes something extra, and you have to really want it, cause
it's hard (and tiring), and if you would rather have work/life balance now,
then maybe another job would be better".

~~~
hugh3
It's not the gist of what he says that's unreasonable, it's the details and
the phrasing which reveal a lot about the dude's personality.

It's the self-obsession inherent in the way he keeps referring to his own
(self-perceived) good qualities as the ideals to which others should try to
live up to.

It's the pointless bragging. "Oh, I've only been tired a few times in my life,
usually after a marathon". Cool story, bro!

It's the way he gives the impression that the only thing he seems to value in
his employees is how much they're willing to kill themselves for the sake of
the company.

Above all, it's this apparent feeling of entitlement that he _deserves_ to
have the best people in the world working for him. This might be justified if
he'd sold his last two companies for ten billion dollars a piece and made all
his employees rich. But according to wikipedia he's sold one company for the
$30 million range; presumably enough to make the founders rich but only to
give a modest payoff to the employees. If the best he can say is that some of
his employees make $100K after getting $30K for the first few years (compared
to a big company where they'd instead make $100K after getting $75K for the
first few years...) then I'm really not sure where this sense of entitlement
is coming from.

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
I kill myself in order to see our projects succeed, and so it is only fair in
my mind that the folks who join my team do the same.

It's not 80 hours a week every week, but certainly there are those weeks. The
truth is it's probably not as hard as I make it seem in this video, but this
video is my HR marketing.

The weak people who see a video like this go "oh that guys a jerk I would
never work for him," and that's EXACTLY what I want.

Now, the folks who are looking to double or triple their salaries, grow their
technical skills 5-10x in a year and learn how to run their own companies,
those people see a video like that and say "sign me up! I want to be a Jedi! I
want to be a Samurai!"

I then give those folks a lightsaber and teach them how to run a company from
raising money, to hiring and to developing a strategy.

If you look at the folks who have joined my teams you will find a long line of
folks who have becoming millionaires working for me, and then gone on to raise
millions in venture capital for their companies--and in some cases make
millions (again)!

The folks who don't know me, and are so weak that they waste their time
throwing rocks at me, take the time to attack on a thread like this.... but
they've never spent a day with me! They don't know me, but they waste time
commenting on what they don't know.

I find that funny and sad, and I appreciate the attention because all it does
is send more potential Jedi my way.

Keep hating haters... I love it.

~~~
stevefarnworth
Jason, I respect you and your work ethic, am a massive fan of TWiST and have
been a Jason Nation subscriber for a long time.

BUT, personally I don't believe this HR ethic will work long-time with the
emergence of better angel funding. You're looking for the mentalities of
founders to become employees, and when someone can partner with someone in
university or down at the local coffee shop and apply for Y Combinator, work
the same hours and put the same effort in on their own company, instead of
grinding in an already established company, I'm betting the best minds will do
the latter.

Correct me if I'm wrong on that, there might be a wealth of super-talented,
super-dedicated workers who aren't confident to run their own company yet, but
I would imagine that anyone willing to work crazy hours, solving complex
online problems, with the low cost of launching a product nowadays, they're
going to try that (at least first).

~~~
jasonmcalacanis
Certainly there are more opportunities for brilliant and talented folks with
every passing day. You can apply to an incubator like YC, TechStars or The
Founders Institute (all great in their own ways). You can hit up
www.OpenAngelForum.com or Angel List (angel.co).You can hit up the new crop of
angel investors directly (assuming they keep investing!).

Or you can sharpen your skills working for a killer entrepreneur like myself
for 30 to 48 months (my minimum recommend length). All of these are amazing
possibilities. Coming to work for me and lasting three years or more means I
will: a) Give you a Calacanis MBA in statups! b) Angel invest in your company,
join your board and introduce you to other angels--provided it's a quality
product. c) mentor you for all time d) get coffee with you any time e)
introduce you to anyone i know--for all time. f) give you a recommendation on
the phone--for all time g) blog/tweet/etc your latest victory to my legions of
follers/the www.JasonNation.com!!! These things, I'm told, provide great
value. it's up to the individual to decide their path... I provide but three:
Open Angel Forum, angel investing, the launch conference (www.launch.is) and
mentoring/hiring. rock on Jcal

~~~
surfrat
Jason, I'm a JNation subscriber, big TWiST fan and have to say that the abuse
here is a bit much without knowing your contribution to the community.

That said, the quote above sounds like a Czar in early industrial Russia. I
agree that you have high standards for your employees and applaud you for
being upfront about expectations: your employees are adults and can make
informed choices. But, that you would expect truly talented people to fall in
line for that kind of industrial revolution era treatment defy's logic.

Yes, you can deliver 50x in mentorship/support post-hazing, but it is still a
hazing. As someone mentioned earlier, why would a talented person want to work
for you again? Truthfully, they could get similar support working at Google or
Fb or any of the other successful startups in the valley.

I know that you "go for the gusto" approach has served you well in the past
and has earned you the success and renown you have today. But, perhaps it is
time to rethink that strategy, especially in these times and especially if you
intend to stay relevant.

Keep on keepin on.

~~~
marcamillion
Surfrat...you couldn't have expressed my original intent in a more succinct
way.

That's exactly what I was trying to get at.

Well done.

------
verysimple
You clearly aren't knocking him. lol.

~~~
marcamillion
The truth is, I didn't intend to.

But the more I thought about him, and wrote the post and started commenting
here...the more difficult it is for me to find something positive to say.

------
HectorRamos
I wouldn't want anyone who doesn't want to work for Jason Calacanis, working
for me, either.

We're small and we need to crush it, or die trying. Weak people can go work
for a big corporation and be comfy.

