A collection of more things that sound good, but might not be true.

A continuation of my earlier post on the same topic.

  • What web3 people want you to believe: Companies are like a democracy. Run it as one.
    • What I have seen instead: Most successful startups are run top down by strong charismatic leaders. It is the truth. I can name examples, but you already know the names of unicorn startups in India.
  • Decentralisation is the way. If you don’t reward your participants, then you are dead. Allow decentralised decision making by issuing governance tokens.
    • What I have seen instead: The biggest companies in the web3 space are Coinbase, Binance, FTX, Opensea. All traditional centralised companies.
  • WFH lovers: Remote is the future. People who are going to the office are doing so because they have some fascination with traditional structures and just can’t accept that remote is better for everyone.
    • What I have seen and learned by talking to very successful people: Remote is good, but people underestimate the importance of serendipity; working with colleagues in a closed knit group, getting into a conference room and jamming on a problem statement. Forget startups, read this post by Richard Hamming on how some of the best scientists worked together. Steve Jobs literally designed offices so that colleagues could bump into each other and have unstructured discussions. The book Culture Code talks about how highly successful teams operate. What builds trust and connection. If there was an option of working from the head office vs going remote and living near the beach, a lot of people during these covid times will choose the 2nd option. It is not a bad option if you are optimising on the life part. Good for you. But do remember that proximity is power.

I know that counterarguments on this will come from web3 folks, so let me just clarify: I am not an anonymous 14 year old high school student who can find vulnerabilities in Layer 1 bockchains and get hired at Paradigm. I would love for that to happen. But sadly I am not a topwit. If you are, and can create a unique new path for yourself, feel free to ignore everything written here. If not, then rethink your stance on these.