Mean People Fail
19 hours ago
- The most successful people the author knows are rarely mean, despite the prevalence of meanness online.
- Meanness is inversely correlated with success in startups; bad people tend to fail as founders.
- Being mean makes you stupid by diverting energy into unproductive fights instead of big ideas.
- Mean founders cannot attract top talent because the best people have other options.
- Benevolent drive helps founders build great things; those focused on improving the world have an advantage.
- Success is shifting from zero-sum games (fighting for scarce resources) to creating new ideas and things.
- Civil order and protection of creation are necessary for new ideas to matter, historically seen in thinkers like Archimedes.
- The approach of intellectuals is spreading, reversing the traditional link between meanness and success.