andrewdwooten · December 7, 2016 14:53
diff --git a/gistfile1.txt b/gistfile1.txt

 12/7/16
 Response to “My Year In Startup Hell”


 	I think this article does well to highlight that nothing there is no ‘Utopia’ yet.  There’s always a downside.  Try as any person might to make anything out to be the most zero-negatives scenario or thing-a-whats-it, there is, without fail, something that is glossed over or spun in such a way as to make it seem a positive.  There was a software development joke in our pre-work “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”.  <= Yea…that.  
 	Despite what I’ve written sounding like pure unadulterated cynicism, I’m not.  It’s just a reality or basic entropy if that helps explain it for you.  Nothing can ever be perfect.  With that as a given, it should be easy to understand that what I read didn’t really surprise me; although, I am going to seek out the full book to read.  Mr. Lyons painted an interesting picture of life inside HubSpot.  While his tone was fairly obvious, reading through that and dissecting his content yielded some interesting, albeit disturbing, themes.
 	“team > individual” Riiiiiiiiight.  Nothing I do for myself is more important than what I do for the team.  Maybe this isn’t a completely toxic statement. Let’s take it apart.  Team, which I’ll take as workplace for this, would include work quality, output, corporate culture, etc.  Individual would include health, marriage, children, personal beliefs.  So, lets run that argument again and substitute definitions: [work quality, output, corporate culture] > [health, marriage, children, happiness, personal beliefs].  Well, weighing which is more important here is a fairly individual endeavor.  I’ll leave it to you.
 	Culture has always been a hobby-level interest for me.  You’ve got the big bubble of humanity which turns into this massive glob of ever-changing bubbles of cultures and subcultures.  It’s cool stuff, and My. Lyons exposition of what one tech job culture is pretty cool.  I think the ultimate irony is a company within an industry which prides itself on being counter to mainstream culture falling into “groupthink” as it’s described.  I’m happy to hear of a company attempting to innovate in the area of workplace culture.  I think having a snack wall, hammocks, and dogs at work sounds pretty cool, and it likely makes for a more relaxed work environment.  With that, the HEART acronym, semantically navigating the definition of “spam”, an extensive powerpoint presentation on corporate culture?  Ever hear the term “synergy”?  There’s an obvious parallel between stock corporate culture and this description of HubStop; they’re both businesses, after all.  I respect what seems to be the general themes/goal of both; We want our employees to love working here;  We want them to be productive;  We want to stay in business.  They both want the same things and appear to be taking similar actions to meet those goals.  I see the only difference to be the tangible differences in work environment.
 	I’m hopeful that one perspective of one instance into a different world, for me at least, is not indicative of what the world is as a whole.  It wouldn’t surprise me with business being what it is.  There are few avenues in life to escape it.  I made the decision to transition careers for different work and a different work environment.  I remain excited to this moment about it, and I’m in love with what I’m doing; however, business is business, and I remain prepared to live with that.

	12/7/16
	Response to “My Year In Startup Hell”


	I think this article does well to highlight that nothing there is no ‘Utopia’ yet. There’s always a downside. Try as any person might to make anything out to be the most zero-negatives scenario or thing-a-whats-it, there is, without fail, something that is glossed over or spun in such a way as to make it seem a positive. There was a software development joke in our pre-work “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”. <= Yea…that.
	Despite what I’ve written sounding like pure unadulterated cynicism, I’m not. It’s just a reality or basic entropy if that helps explain it for you. Nothing can ever be perfect. With that as a given, it should be easy to understand that what I read didn’t really surprise me; although, I am going to seek out the full book to read. Mr. Lyons painted an interesting picture of life inside HubSpot. While his tone was fairly obvious, reading through that and dissecting his content yielded some interesting, albeit disturbing, themes.
	“team > individual” Riiiiiiiiight. Nothing I do for myself is more important than what I do for the team. Maybe this isn’t a completely toxic statement. Let’s take it apart. Team, which I’ll take as workplace for this, would include work quality, output, corporate culture, etc. Individual would include health, marriage, children, personal beliefs. So, lets run that argument again and substitute definitions: [work quality, output, corporate culture] > [health, marriage, children, happiness, personal beliefs]. Well, weighing which is more important here is a fairly individual endeavor. I’ll leave it to you.
	Culture has always been a hobby-level interest for me. You’ve got the big bubble of humanity which turns into this massive glob of ever-changing bubbles of cultures and subcultures. It’s cool stuff, and My. Lyons exposition of what one tech job culture is pretty cool. I think the ultimate irony is a company within an industry which prides itself on being counter to mainstream culture falling into “groupthink” as it’s described. I’m happy to hear of a company attempting to innovate in the area of workplace culture. I think having a snack wall, hammocks, and dogs at work sounds pretty cool, and it likely makes for a more relaxed work environment. With that, the HEART acronym, semantically navigating the definition of “spam”, an extensive powerpoint presentation on corporate culture? Ever hear the term “synergy”? There’s an obvious parallel between stock corporate culture and this description of HubStop; they’re both businesses, after all. I respect what seems to be the general themes/goal of both; We want our employees to love working here; We want them to be productive; We want to stay in business. They both want the same things and appear to be taking similar actions to meet those goals. I see the only difference to be the tangible differences in work environment.
	I’m hopeful that one perspective of one instance into a different world, for me at least, is not indicative of what the world is as a whole. It wouldn’t surprise me with business being what it is. There are few avenues in life to escape it. I made the decision to transition careers for different work and a different work environment. I remain excited to this moment about it, and I’m in love with what I’m doing; however, business is business, and I remain prepared to live with that.