The tragedy of Tony Hsieh is that every fucking VC toadie on the planet called him a "visionary" despite the fact that everyone operating under his management strategies bailed really hard. So on the one hand, the people you're trying to help think you're a monster. On the other hand, the people you're trying to help them from think you're a visionary.
He sounded like a profoundly lonely individual that was made only more so by his financial success. It doesn't get much worse than paying people to be your friend. Tangential - reading this reminded me of Markus Persson, who has been a monster. I recalled reading something he wrote about being incredibly lonely and unmotivated after buying a massive house in CA. That led me to read his two most recent blog posts: https://notch.tumblr.com/post/58707926941/so-thats-what-im-going-to-do https://notch.tumblr.com/post/37823268132/i-love-you-dad It's difficult to empathize with people that suffer from the amplification, scrutiny, and reality distortion of success. But it is interesting that we are interested in it.
I reject this entire line of thinking. There's this idea that somehow vastly wealthy people suffer more than the rest of us because, after all, they're filthy fucking rich so of course everything they do is "more" in one direction or another. Paying people to be your friends works great for plenty of people. Nobody's sitting around going "Poor Jho Low, wiping his eyes with hundos on his 300-foot Azimut. I mean it sucks to be lonely but we've got this whole mythology where if you're a lonely asshole it's because you're an asshole but if you're a lonely rich asshole it's because the fuckin' travails of wealth are too much for most people no that doesn't mean you should institute a reasonable tax regime it's far better if we just feel sorry for rich assholes. CONTROVERSIAL TAKE: Notch was never not an asshole, but as a rich asshole there are far more suck-ups willing to put up with his bullshit so they can lick spilled Krug off marble steps. This doesn't mean "rich people suffer unique problems" this means our culture cuts rich people way the fuck too much slack.He sounded like a profoundly lonely individual that was made only more so by his financial success. It doesn't get much worse than paying people to be your friend.
I'm in agreement. I do not think Hsieh suffered more than the rest of us. In fact, he possibly suffered less acutely for longer because he could fill the void with sycophants and projects. Same with Persson. I don't think his success made him a misogynist. It just gave him an amplifier and enough apologists that he can entertain the notion that he is correct. I linked those posts because of the humanity underneath a painful lack of self-awareness. IMO that's part of the reason this article about Hsieh exists. We collectively cannot imagine tracking the same arc because we are so accustomed to acutely facing the consequences of our actions. Also, we can't fathom unhappiness when Jewel is strumming at your fireside.