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".
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.
Right, taken in the context of just this interview, it is not that bad, it's just a guy saying I want extraordinary people and "claims" that he is willing to compensate them for being extraordinary. Standing by itself there is nothing wrong with it. But when you contrast that, with the buzz that went around a few months ago because someone job hopped him because they did not like the environment it tells a totally different story. There is a significant sense of entitlement in that exchange whereas this on seems to contradict his position, in this he pretty much states if you don't like it you are free to leave. But it would seem that he feels it is actually, if I don't like you, you I am free to protect my interests.
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.
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).
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
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.
Wow, a Jedi and a Samurai. What a fabulous job description (for someone whose actual job is sitting in front of a computer for twelve hours a day working on a project that somebody else thinks is a good idea for thirty grand on the promise that maybe they'll get a hundred grand later on).
Anyway Jason, I'm afraid I have better things to do today than argue with you on the subject of whether you are as awesome as you think you are. Apparently this is your favourite subject, but it's not one that interests me very much.
