a short appreciation post for people that make things authentically
as the tech industry has become more “mature” (less risky, more popular, and more high-status), tech culture has evolved too. it seems like there is a growing tendency for people to signal how hard they are hustling / how much they care / how smart they are, rather than focusing on the substance of what they are building. admittedly, a huge portion this happens on twitter (bragging about 996 / coding at the bar / etc), where it selves people to be self-promotional and controversial. of course, real progress comes from substance over signaling. i want to explore the signaling side first, then highlight the positive side of this equation - people that quietly focus on real work and authenticity.
performative hustle culture
i have always been wary about people that talk excessively about how hard they work, largely because i did not see any benefit to doing this (other than perhaps surrounding yourself with people that also like to talk about how hard they work). if you are talking about it in a negative way (”it sucks that i have to work this hard, look at how hard i am working”) my first thoughts are, why not find some way to work less, or find some work that does not feel like work (both are valid ways to live your life). if working hard now is a way to get to either of those things, why not accept what you cannot change, instead of talking about it. if you are truly working hard, do you really have the time or energy to be tweeting about it every day?
it is probably better to show (versus tell) people how hard you work. seeing the boss quietly working later than everyone else, sets a better example than the boss explicitly saying it. it is also fine to describe your company culture as hard-working, without boasting about how hard you work individually (which makes it more about you, versus the company - “i work hard” versus “we work hard here”).
it seems that people who are doing things authentic to them, usually do not need an audience to validate them. for example, if you really love to write code, you will probably be happy doing it on your own, without needing to tweet pictures of you coding at the bar. there have been a few viral tweets featuring people coding at the bar. part of you has to admire the hustle, but another part may wonder - why not just head home or outside of the bar to code / fix the issue? putting on a show, by coding in front of an audience, feels more like theater.
status signaling in different cities
one thing i respect about new yorkers is that they work really long hours, but are often less performative about it. there is a mutual understanding among people in nyc, that everyone works hard, for a few reasons. first, you are in one of the biggest cultural centers of the country, many people and companies that are at the top of their fields are headquartered in nyc, if you make it here you can likely make it anywhere, as the saying goes. second, you need to make money because you spend a lot of money (rent is higher than anywhere in the country, social expectations like weekday dinners and drinks cost a lot of money, and the city is generally good at extracting money out of you). third, so many people move to nyc right after they graduate, and naturally, new grads will work hard (they are desperate to prove themselves, need to hustle hard in order to rise up the ranks, have fewer family-related responsibilities they need to spend time on after work, etc). bragging about your 80-hour work week will not earn you many points, because in many industries, it is almost assumed. 996 has existed in nyc for a long time. all of this is a generalization, of course.
now, there are status games that people play in every city. in nyc, it seems to be all about money. in la, it’s about popularity. in sf, it’s currently about signaling your hustle / ambition, or how much you have raised. in all of these cities, a lot of people are just playing the game, as opposed to doing original thinking or learning about themselves.
building authentically
sometimes you meet people who feel like whatever the opposite of performative is, and this makes them magnetic. you don’t feel like you’re being pitched, and you can tell that they have poured many hours into their craft, without them telling you this. they talk about problems that are interesting instead of about how interesting they are themselves.
a lot of people that are this way, seem more internally motivated (versus externally motivated). for example, they think about their own effort and output as a private agreement with themselves, rather than something that should be externally advertised.
in addition to being internally motivated, you often feel these people are doing their life’s work (or to phrase it in a less extreme way, they are pursuing something they believe in, and enjoying the process of getting there). they would be doing exactly what they are doing now, regardless of the hype or status it brings them. this makes you less likely to complain about (or praise) the long hours, because you’re in the flow.
to the point earlier of not “pitching,” authentic people tell stories in a way that makes sense. oftentimes it is really obvious when someone has created a script for their background, if you interrupt or ask questions and force them off script, they struggle a bit. these scripts might start with “ever since i was really young, i have been obsessed with this space” (when nothing in their background indicates pursuit of that passion) or “i have always been building things, i was obsessed with [legos / minecraft / etc]” (half the population loved building legos). oftentimes life follows a less linear trajectory - you were doing one thing, then you stumbled across an insight, shifted to another area, joined a friend at their company, discovered something else, and that led you to where you are today. there is strength in not needing to pretend you’ve always had it figured out, though there is pressure to say the opposite (probably as a result of needing to pitch vc’s or status-signal that you are in the builder in-group).
authenticity travels far in these status-signaling days. there are more ideas, founders, and investors than ever, all chasing the idea of doing something ambitious. but attention remains fixed, and so many feel the need to be louder in order to be heard. but the opposite can also be true. a way to stand out is to focus on what lasts, which is craft, results, and stamina. i admire people who are unapologetically themselves and focused on their goals.
tech is full of really creative and hard-working people, which makes it a wonderful industry to work in. i grew up in the bay area and still spend ~20 weeks a year there now, and it is an awesome place. while the industry feels heavy on status-signaling currently, i am optimistic long-term that really great founders, operators, and investors can surround themselves with other people that align with their values (ambition, grit, critical thinking, authenticity, etc) and build great things.