re: #219 WhatEVs

Isn’t trying, even if failing, worth something? I am not talking about CF because she failed and wound up fucking a lot of people up. But let’s take Jobs…ok, he succeeded spectacularly, but what if he tried and failed? Someone having a dream of doing something to try to realize it, whether they succeed or not, could wind up being the biggest “What If I Had Tried” moment that haunts them the rest of their lives.

But that’s the problem, really. If you “do a Steve Jobs*”, waltz in to some established company, shake things up, fire a bunch of people and replace them with young hip go-getters…

Then you might make a bunch of money for the shareholders (but the people you fired are still fired) or you might crater the place and leave with a fat check and some board memberships. Either way you win - in some cases some people lose (the fired workers) while in other cases lots of people lose (the fired workers, the shareholders, people forced to endure your shitty products if you have an entrenched monopoly etc.).

The idealized Steve Jobs approach might be more appropriate in a differently-conceived version of capitalism with alternative funding models, career security and so on. Currently I think it only works plausibly in start-ups.

* This is not necessarily what actual Steve Jobs did, more an exaggerated version of what people do if they’re trying to be like Steve Jobs.