HN user
Holy shit. I would never work with/for this writer.
The writer is Ben Horowitz:
Ben Horowitz is cofounder and partner of Andreessen Horowitz.
Therefore there is a good chance that if you work at a successful Valley startup you are indirectly working for this guy and making him even more disgustingly wealthy from your labour.
And yet people will listen to this guy because he is a VC and will create cargo cult leadership to hang off his every word.
Thanks for the link. Yup, that is anathema to me, you couldn't pay me enough to ever consider working there.
As each pair works, neither engineer is permitted to send email or text chat — much less surf the web
The engineers don’t go onto their laptops unless it’s absolutely necessary. They don’t use their phone unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Anyway I will try to avoid buying whatever their product is, I don't want to support companies that would do this type of stuff. This is also why I refuse to move or work in America- I am dead serious, your employment law and corporate culture scares me.
Because I demand more respect than that from my employer. It is a layout designed to cram the max number of people into the cheapest space. These people are shoulder to shoulder. You have zero privacy and anything you do on your screen 2 other people are going to inevitably see it. In that way it is also your employer enforcing their will on you- you will feel embarrassed to take a perfectly normal break to look at Facebook or Twitter or whatever.
I also dislike that a lot of the spaces there are for people with laptops. I personally would never accept a company laptop. It implies that your employer wants you to work at home or on travel. Fuck that. I want a desktop, and I will work for you when I am in the office. If you want me to work at any other time, pay me to come in.
Stand up for yourself. Start-up culture is increasingly bullshit and toxic, luckily I am getting out in a few weeks and do not intend to return.
Jesus Christ, is that top picture of a hellish working environment typical? I have a panic attack just looking at it.
Does anyone happen to know what company that is so I know to avoid them like the plague?
EDIT: OK, figured it out, it is Pivotal[0]. I have absolutely no idea what they actually _do_ based on their website, exactly as I would expect for the kind of company that would have that sort of office.