I watched the movie Swiped yesterday, which is a dramatic interpretation of the life of one of Tinder's cofounders. It's a solid movie, if a little jarring to hear Lily James speak with an American accent. Without giving a lot away, it's a familiar story as old as the commercial Internet. She gets sucked into tech startup culture, complete with the usual slides and ping pong tables in the office, a gigantic heap of alpha bros, betrayal, bad press and such. Since the real person settled with an NDA, of course they don't have the full story, but did their best to tell it from the public record. That she encountered all of the stereotypes is not hard to believe. I've seen it all as well.
Concurrently, there have been some brutal layoffs in a number of US companies, many at those that most people would not recognize. Meanwhile, Nvidia just invested $100 billion, with a "b," in OpenAI, something that defies any rational explanation, as these companies look for the problems that they're sure they have the solution for. It feels like 2000, and I wonder how it's going to shake out.
It all got me to thinking, I sure have seen my share of shit, and all of these stereotypes are true. I've been at "legacy" big tech, a dotcom flame-out, an IPO, and even a relatively stable, long-term business. I've worked for founders that were in over their head and incompetent, seasoned business leaders who righted the ship, and everything in between. I've seen examples of racism and misogyny (the worst in a non-tech company, actually). And I've met countless people, in and outside of jobs, where people are chasing unicorns. No wonder they make movies about this sort of thing.
The protagonist in the movie reaches an inflection point where, despite being driven, still wants to create a place to work that is safe and enriching. The goal isn't the exit, it's to make something durable, to leave some section of the world better off than it was. I'm sure that would be perceived as naive by most, but whatever, I like that. Being valued, respected and appreciated is what makes work worth it beyond the financial arrangement, in any job.
I wish we could focus more on that. We can't take it with us, as they say.
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