I wasn’t in the room, but this is how I figure it played out. Simon was nimble; quicker than Brad on all fronts. I figure Brad lunged for him and then immediately realized who else was in the room.
I bet you’ve also seen the other side of the corporate veneer.
I've seen the politics of it, certainly, but my corporate career was spent with a conservative Minnesota company that frowned on displays of emotion. Any form of physical attack would have been grounds for immediate termination.
Well that was fun! The crazy pressure we put on each other at work; seems so silly now. But I felt it—felt it enough that I got into several yelling matches with various “heads of sales” over the years, and even gave one of them an ill-advised thump on the chest. I’m not proud of that last bit; it meant I had lost my cool. Nothing came of it. We made up.
Right!? It felt so BIG and now I don’t remember most. While I didn’t do any chest thumping; some people you just had to come straight at to get respect.
No Ketamine on my watch, but this same crew did some day drinking. Big boss had a full bar setup by his office, you weren’t a GPM if you didn’t have at least one bottle of Japanese Whisky squirreled away under you desk. Once i got roped into a meeting about ‘product messaging’ and the whiskey came out. Simon was convinced all our problems traced back to marketing and the more whiskey we drank, the wronger marketing was.
I know you’re into your bourbon, but I can’t hang — I looked for the early exit. If only I was more agro and more drug tolerant, I’d be trippin with Elon right now, signing up for the next spaceship to Mars.
As the product became more important and the HR violations mounted, a lot of that stuff disappeared.
This is hilarious and also slightly terrifying! I'm definitely a whisky person - bourbon especially - but day drinking meetings sound like a recipe for disaster. Time and place. I also dabble in microdosing psilocybin for my MS pain. It keeps me functional.
It was no Wolf of Silicon Valley; just a step up from hot pockets and jolt cola never stop coding — people worked silly hours; who needs to leave for the
Makes me think I was lucky to stay away from big corporate gigs. I just can't listen to bosses, especially if my remuneration is based on my success or failure in sales. You would have, however been cool to work with!
'Everybody sells' but I was never a salesman; I am just not wired for it. Ok I suck at it. But the top account sales guys were a different breed - maybe that's another tale - we'd call them 'coin operated' and the stuff they would do to land that Enterprise Agreement ...
Hah. And I thought my corporate life was crazy. Never seen anyone choking anyone, though!
I wasn’t in the room, but this is how I figure it played out. Simon was nimble; quicker than Brad on all fronts. I figure Brad lunged for him and then immediately realized who else was in the room.
I bet you’ve also seen the other side of the corporate veneer.
I've seen the politics of it, certainly, but my corporate career was spent with a conservative Minnesota company that frowned on displays of emotion. Any form of physical attack would have been grounds for immediate termination.
Not my field but your advice still applies
Yes the ‘no choking rule’ should be taught in Kindergarten
Well that was fun! The crazy pressure we put on each other at work; seems so silly now. But I felt it—felt it enough that I got into several yelling matches with various “heads of sales” over the years, and even gave one of them an ill-advised thump on the chest. I’m not proud of that last bit; it meant I had lost my cool. Nothing came of it. We made up.
Right!? It felt so BIG and now I don’t remember most. While I didn’t do any chest thumping; some people you just had to come straight at to get respect.
Companies set up these gladiator matches between executives under the guise of 'healthy competition,' then act shocked when things get toxic.
The craziest thing I saw was a stapler airborne, two executives involved, and a third act that required a quick trip to enhance reality. KETAMINE.
Happy Friday, Andrew....
No Ketamine on my watch, but this same crew did some day drinking. Big boss had a full bar setup by his office, you weren’t a GPM if you didn’t have at least one bottle of Japanese Whisky squirreled away under you desk. Once i got roped into a meeting about ‘product messaging’ and the whiskey came out. Simon was convinced all our problems traced back to marketing and the more whiskey we drank, the wronger marketing was.
I know you’re into your bourbon, but I can’t hang — I looked for the early exit. If only I was more agro and more drug tolerant, I’d be trippin with Elon right now, signing up for the next spaceship to Mars.
As the product became more important and the HR violations mounted, a lot of that stuff disappeared.
Thanks for reminding me of this story Neela!
Happy Saturday Andrew
This is hilarious and also slightly terrifying! I'm definitely a whisky person - bourbon especially - but day drinking meetings sound like a recipe for disaster. Time and place. I also dabble in microdosing psilocybin for my MS pain. It keeps me functional.
It was no Wolf of Silicon Valley; just a step up from hot pockets and jolt cola never stop coding — people worked silly hours; who needs to leave for the
And here I thought I've seen EVERYTHING in tech.
Makes me think I was lucky to stay away from big corporate gigs. I just can't listen to bosses, especially if my remuneration is based on my success or failure in sales. You would have, however been cool to work with!
'Everybody sells' but I was never a salesman; I am just not wired for it. Ok I suck at it. But the top account sales guys were a different breed - maybe that's another tale - we'd call them 'coin operated' and the stuff they would do to land that Enterprise Agreement ...
would be a good story. Sales at all cost?
Ooooh, strong title, saving that for later.