I have worked for people like this and they are pricks. The only person with that sort of passion in any start up are those who are directly benefiting from it. I run what could be termed a start up (business) not .com and its true, working 18 hr days and 6 days a week is not in the long run the right way to go! Work smarter more efficiently and outsource things you are not good at… nothing is worth missing out on LIFE! you only get one!

To be honest, the line “fire folks who aren’t workaholics” was sort of with a wink and grin… thus the use of “post office” and “for realz.” Of course, some folks meant that to mean “screw you family, back to work!” We’ve got many folks with families working at Mahalo, and I’ve had plenty at previous startups. What i find is people with kids tend to be the MUCH more efficient with their time than people without kids — on average. From what I’ve been told by folks with kids they just know that the clock is ticking and that they have to get stuff done before their kids need them again… so they hustle. In fact, the most prolific Guide at Mahalo has kids. He doesn’t waste time at the water cooler… he’s all business and I appreciate that.

At the three companies I’ve run in my life (Silicon Alley Reporter, Weblogs, inc, and now Mahalo) I’ve had nearly zero voluntary turnover. Those were all very demanding work environments, but they were also filled with uber talented folks who went on to big things. Xeni from Boingboing and Rafat Ali from PaidContent worked at Silicon Alley Reporter, Peter Rojas (RCRDLBL), Judith Meskill, and Brian Alvey (CrowdFusion) were at Weblogs, Inc. The list goes on and on of people who worked with me who went on to do great things. I think this is because a) I’ve got an eye for talented, hard-working folks, and b) I’ve always created supportive and challenging environments where people can grow — a lot!

Now… you’ve spent two posts on this and it’s time for you to get back to work. I expect you to put in 10 hours each day this weekend and I don’t want you to look up from that keyboard until you’re the top story on TechMeme again!

Work!
Work!
Work!

best j

Love it love it love it.
Power to transparency.
Say what is in your heart.

The attempt to “retro-manage” the message is typical.

I would have more respect if he stuck to his truth. And not try and pretend otherwise.

At the three companies I’ve run in my life (Silicon Alley Reporter, Weblogs, inc, and now Mahalo) I’ve had nearly zero voluntary turnover.

Two words:

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

I’m definitley more sympathetic to the Signals vs. Noise side of this argument, but I disagree with something you said, Stil:

“Even quote a dead president in a way which implies that a web start-up is a “worthy cause” — which it isn’t, it’s just about getting rich.”

Making money is no less a worthy cause then anything else — it implies the creation of a good or service that many people want (enough to part with their money.)

Microsoft was a ‘start-up’ of sorts, as was Google, Yahoo, heck CollegeHumor. All these companies were driven by the quest for money to give me something decent. Apple, for instance, does nothing more than try to attract my money — but that means innovation from then, and good products for me.

An entrepreneur’s quest to get rich improves everyone else’s livelihoods — he or she cannot get rich unless they have something decent to give to society (i.e something that attracts high demand) .

Making money is the worthiest cause. It shouldn’t be frowned upon as ‘not worthy’ (even if you consider charity a virtue, you can’t give unless you have.)

(To keep on topic: in the position of employer — entrepreneur — I’d be most inclined to employ staff on four day work weeks. After thinking about it, I’m surprised it’s not an already well spread idea.)

Have you people actually WORKED in a startup before?

Don’t you understand that the nature of a startup is that more work is REQUIRED than a ‘regular job’ at a ‘regular company’?

This is because the business model, or the core product audience, or the corporate competencies or services have yet to be established, and thus a lot of work must be done before the startup is “there”.

It’s a gamble. Because the company “wasn’t there before”, one works extremely hard building these missing pieces with the [potential] payoff being equity or just being one of the /early/ employees.

This is not how “regular” companies work.

If you want to have a nice relaxing regular day at work, stop whining about startups and go and work for Morgan Stanley or G.E.

Calacanis and people like him are not trying to run a company like Jack Welch does/did. Maybe Mahalo and/or other ‘startups’ may at one time in the future become more like regular corporate entities, but for the duration of the “startup phase” things must be run differently. There will always be plenty of people who will bust their arses in startup mode, but it strikes me that the people who are complaining about Calacanis’ recent comments want to have all the benefits of working at a startup, but without the 12+ hour days.

Yeeaaah, I want to drive a Bugatti Veryon without paying for it too.

Come on now folks. There are all sorts of companies and all sorts of people. Find something that works for you and don’t bitch about something that falls out of your own comfort zone but falls entirely within lots of other peoples.