The text in itself is very close to self-parody and severely lacks editing (as most of his writing that I have read or sampled) but that can be forgiven in a person-to-person context. There is a whole different world of rules that apply when you address an entire audience that does not happen to be on your payroll. As it stands, this is a kneejerk "and you know what? I'm so taken by how motivating my own writing to you guys is, I'll also blog it ON THE INTERNET" reaction that reeks of delusion.

Telling your employees "hey guys, stop joking around" and telling the entire world that your employees are "jokers" are two very different things - even if we don't know them in person. Having the person I work for confuse the two would be quite the wakeup call for me.

In fact, this reminds me of an anecdote - I once did an internship at a design studio. One day, one of the guys asked me for a favor - send out faxes with his software and make sure to resend all the faxes that failed to be sent. (He had to leave early, for whatever reason.) Turns out, he kept a LOT of failed records and I ended up sending a lot of faxes from previous batches.

He was obviously angry at me and I could certainly agree with that. But then he proceeded to call every single recipient and tell them that the idiot intern messed it up. There were a million excuses (the software failed etc.) he could have used that were perfectly harmless and he won nothing by shaming a particular person in front of them. But still, he did. So yeah, that WAS quite a wakeup call.

It sounds more like a con-artist to me. I also feel very sorry for the employees, even though I have my doubts that they take away home any salary at this point.

> "I’m cyclothymic too. Like Nieztsche and Byron and those guys. Albeit, much less talented; I’m just saying I got the same affliction. [...] What’s a cyclothymic? It appears that we feel emotions more strongly than other people, and cycle through them. I’m fucking awesome when I’m manic [...] Cyclothymic mania is when the SPIRIT OF GOD is within you. [...] It’s pretty fucking awesome when it’s going on. SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN YOU. Imagine that, eh? [...] Jut one rub – it’s a Faustian Bargain – crashing is… well, “hell” [...] when a convergence of bullshit strikes, then I crash hard and I’m fucking useless for a while. It’s a real bummer, I’ll tell ya."

So yes - manic depressive. And a little too taken by it, if I may say so.

They're partners, not employees.

Yes, I'll suffer at the printshop when I promised it. My colleague offered to do it, but he just had a baby and it would be ridiculous to keep him all night. No one else was available on Sunday night.

> they tend to be neither very good businessmen nor good employers.

My staff like me, I pay top of market (sometimes 10x market pay, if the person is worth it but short-changed due to supply and demand), everyone is treated great, we have a culture of radical transparency and honesty, have a book club, there's no task management, and everyone is free to basically do whatever they want whenever they want as long as they get their job done.

I want people to be their best and keep their word. And again, that email was to business partners, not to employees, on what was supposed to be a very short project that dragged on.

I don't know if you'd like working with me. Maybe not, it's not for everyone. But I look for top performers, pay them extremely well, treat them well, give them huge respect and autonomy, and push them to give their best and really deliver. We tend to have fun, too.

Somehow I doubt you're paying $1 million a year, which would be 10x market pay for a good engineer...

That said, if you're paying even high-ish market rates and your people are really partners with significant percentage interests in the company, then I do retract a lot of what I said, and apologize if it was too harsh - I have had some bad experiences in startup-land with CEOs that demanded miracles from underpaid near-zero-equity employees, and I'm definitely biased by that. It's very likely that I've misinterpreted what's going on in your case based on my experiences, it's definitely more reasonable to expect serious commitment from equity partners that are well compensated for their time.

That said, I'd still think hard before posting stuff like this publicly - it's got a dirty laundry smell, and I think that's what a lot of people are reacting most negatively to. Did this really need to be a public blog post, or could it have had the same effect as an e-mail cced to the involved parties, without inviting the rest of the Internet to comment on it?

I know if I was one of the "lazies" called out, I'd be a bit pissed off about how public this got, and I'd probably be retaliating with any other side to the story, if there was one...

First: I'm fine with this email. Didn't love it, responded to it in a way that raised my own issues, worked them out with Seb on the phone, moved on.

Second: I'm fine with him posting this email. He posts a lot of very candid material about his somewhat unique approach to life and business, which I respect and have benefited from, so am happy to contribute back in the form of a character in one of his stories.

Third: Y'all need to spend a lot less time speculating on other people's approach to situations that you have very little context on. He posted this, I can only imagine, because it was a very unique thing that he tried and (I can attest to) ultimately found success in. As some in here have commented, "Why are people positively responding to this, is that some kind of cult?" Just shut it. No, seriously. Stop contributing that garbage. People on his blog benefit from his advice, that's why they come back. The question is, why are you over here talking about it? More specifically, why are you talking about it and Sebastian as if you know what's going on, as opposed to using it as a starting point for when something like this might or might not (or is always or never) appropriate?

Forth: To the many civil comments in here, no offense!

Fifth: Ok back to work, HN is for jokers. ;)

My personal thought is that with some relatively minor modifications, this could work as a pretty powerful motivator.

The points of "I'm trusting you completely; you don't have to run your decisions by me; I recognize that I do and will owe you enormously if we all manage to pull off what we said we would" is not bad at all, and would motivate me.

It's not the kind of thing you can pull out every two months -- that would be horrible -- but it sounds like he's asking for a complete commitment for a short burst of time, and also recognizing that this is costly in many ways.

But this blog post was, well, astronomically short sighted...

> on what was supposed to be a very short project that dragged on.

Which ties into my almost instant reaction; "so this is an email he wrote when pissed off things weren't going so well".

You talk about employing the best people, who can get things to work. One of the thoughts I had, especially reading the stuff you mention about purchasing resources and AWS, is that what the project seems to lack is good administration.

One thing I have learned about projects is having a really really good admin person can make them fly. But you seem to have been managing the money and the decisions.

So to be harsh (but only as harsh as you've been :)) it appears you are a fucking Joker too.

The solution to people clearing stuff with you isn't to tell them not to clear stuff with you - long term that has no practical benefit, and isn't in keeping with human nature. Solving the money issue is not entirely solved by giving them a credit card.

The solution is to find a really solid admin person to fix these issues; employ someone who's job it is to address all the nitpicks and the money.

One other thing you probably need to learn; there is a distinct difference between the honest truth and simply being abusive. You're calling them fucking Jokers, and telling them you're not. Ok so there is "nice" stuff wrapped up in there too - but regardless of whether they are employees or partners this is just de-motivating behaviour.

Possibly even deflection.

If you're going to tear them a new one; do it right. Or if you're trying to motivate them; do it right. This was a wierd mix of the two :)

I don't know much about you. I don't know much about the context.So I don't want to jump up and down and make too much criticism (or accusation). But from what I have observed let me offer some advice; when you have a multi-million dollar company with hundreds or thousands of employees then this is the sort of email you can send, where it indicts no one specifically as a Joker, and be lauded for it. I feel like that is what you modelled on :) Till that point - small teams need intense supportive leadership. It requires you to constantly be bothered by the nitpicking.

Saying "just build it, till then I can't sell it" is not leadership :)

But then why make it a point in your argument?

> My staff like me [...] everyone is treated great [...] there's no task management

Nope, sorry, that doesn't make sense.

> I want people to be their best and keep their word. And again, that email was to business partners, not to employees, on what was supposed to be a very short project that dragged on.

Yes, precisely - it was to business partners, not the entire Internet.

> We tend to have fun, too.

Splendid - If you don't mind me asking: How many of your partners (or employees) do you retain for a long time?

Maybe that's why things are now weeks behind?

"I got a top creative designer in there working for a fraction of his normal cost by being very fucking cool with him, and also working out a deal where we refer him business, and he can use our office space to hold client meetings during our off hours.

...

The designer came with me, working for peanuts compared to his normal rates (he’s a top guy)"

Your partners would be well advised to cut you out of the project... or perhaps to dump the project entirely since (a) it doesn't seem to be going too well, and (b) you're obviously not that committed to it yourself because you're working on something else right now.

The real problem here is not that you've destroyed your project (or at least your role in it) and alienated your friends by sending one douchey email; it's that you apparently don't realize that this is what you've done.

Howard Schultz's autobiography "Pour Your Heart Into It" is a good read if you want to learn more.

Firstly you're wasting money for no extra value return. And it will leave you with the reputation of "that guy who pays stupid amounts of money" rather than "that guy who hires the best".

Secondly it gives you the expectation of "I am paying them loads more, so they should have more devotion to the project". In reality this doesn't always work out - better to get them enthused in the project and offer rewards in the context of the success of the project (this is why big companies don't pay higher and higher rates to get the best talent - but instead use bonuses and other incentives).

Thirdly it gets the business into the culture of overpaying; I've seen several companies do this, and at some point in the future you will run into the point where it is not possible to keep paying that rate. Reducing a super-high salary to baseline is de-motivating - you'll get employees just losing engagement and thinking "hey, I could just get a 'normal' job". Empirically; I've seen a number of companies fail purely through this factor.

I want top paid people, comprehensive benefits, complete healthcare, and serious investments in quality training.

This, however, is a good way to approach it. Pay the standard levels of salary and shift the rest of the money into value for the employee. If they are getting a couple of weeks training and conference attendance, new equipment, top notch business support etc. from you then they will be much more inclined to stick around.

It is a much more effective way to buy loyalty/support.

"working for a fraction of his normal cost by being very fucking cool with him"

This is just one of the many contradictions that become very obvious when reading a few of your posts.

> They're partners, not employees.

You actually think this is a justification? Even WORSE! While as the boss, you might get away with lashing out and being arrogant to your employees because, hey, you are the boss and pay their salaries and employees sometimes let their boss get away with being an idiot. But you got yourself into a business arrangement with people you consider friends (IMHO a major mistake) and they are your partners you might have to work with through some actually really tough times and as soon as the going gets just a little rough, you show your true nature and start being a lecturing a*hole? If you continue like this, this endeavor will not last through the first actual crisis - and if you think what you are facing NOW is a crisis (oh dear a project is off by a few weeks! never happened in IT!!) then oh boy are you in for some surprises.

I am sorry, you strike me as the person and type of leader that is a GREAT leader (in his own mind) as long as things are going great, easy, worry-free and without any trouble but at the first sign of complications, exactly when your leader skills should actually come into play, you snap and start flinging poo and blame.

You do EXACTLY what you call "being a joker". You write and blog and whine but you did NOT do what it takes to get the job done. And by your standards and set goals, you did NOT get it done. Do you honestly think Hannibal only had DEVGRU-quality SEALs in his army and it was no struggle for him? Think about it. You frakked up just as much as they have, likely much more because you knew something wasn't going right and you did nothing until now where you ridicule them.

This doesn't get with either "if we make $10k in 6 months" or "if you work really hard AND we perform unexpectedly well, you'll be rewarded with a free trip in Asia".

This 'paying 10x' thing is utter bullshit, made up on the spot to make it sound like you're the good guy. If you had that money available, you'd be hiring more staff.

One one is being publicly shamed. From the article:

Names and details changed, for obvious reasons.

I posted a blog entry about some code I'd inherited from a friend. I posted a problem I'd found (really wasn't even his fault specifically) and my fix. Very matter of fact - I wasn't a joker about it. He still read it, saw himself in it, and saw it as a public shaming, even though the client wasn't mentioned, nor was his name mentioned.

Yeah, I can say it was 'his problem' in how he chose to deal with it, but it strained a friendship if nothing else.

Therefore, most people that are trying to mimic Steve Jobs are just douche bags without taste, without the electrifying personality and without the track record.

First and foremost he seems to be suffering from severe reality distortion with the "we are amongst the 1% and should be multi-millionaires".

Second, this is an outrageous whining and bitching very alike to what little kids do: "but _I_ did all my work on the project, it is allll YOUR fault and none of it is mine!". This is business, if you really put your money where your mouth is on the "make a way" part then you need to STFU and reflect on what YOU did wrong. Obviously a lot, otherwise things wouldn't be so frakked up.

Don't compare yourself to Hannibal ever again or aspire to him unless you put your money where your mouth is. He did not lead his people from half across the world away, he was right there. He knew it is frakking impossible to lead his men unless he was RIGHT THERE.

> All of this shit was supposed to be done weeks ago.

It sounds like he is in some leading position for this project, so it should have never gotten to this point where he is NOW complaining things weren't done weeks ago. It is his fault for letting things slip and not managing it properly so it could finish on time. It is not enough to tell people now "here is my credit card, shut up and use it. but hey I am there for you, come ask me anytime" if you want to manage them - and then blow them out for asking you stuff or talking to you about stuff.

On top of that, I understand he is not with his partners/employees but frakking around in Asia somewhere and sending them emails like that? Well guess which critical human side of a project absolutely severely suffers from not-being-with-your-team? It is communication. Email and skype are great but extremely narrow communication channels; nothing can replace being there and seeing each other every day, having a chat over coffee or sharing lunch and working together. I have made this experience first-handedly when our startup boss frakked off to some other country and barely popped in. Do not under-estimate just how much information and communication is completely lost just because you are not physically there working with those guys every day.

> Look. I love you guys. All 3 of you are dear friends of mine, close friends of mine.

That's why you called them jokers and shifted all the blame on them and made sure to emphasis how awesome work YOU have done and how clearly everything is THEIR fault. Again, no conception or understanding of how to be a LEADER.

> You and I both live in a world where most people we interact with are fucking jokers.

Oh you precious little snowflake... don't fool yourself, you are no better than the majority and so far you haven't done anything remotely close to what your role model(s) have done so back to trenches with you, precious little snowflake and earn your stripes.