the conversation
| What you loved and loathed last month
Techno Babble
Response to “Animal House,” Mark Pupo’s memoir about the pluses and minuses (mostly minuses) of working in tech, was profuse. It especially resonated among tech veterans, not just in Toronto but all over North America.
“I really enjoyed ‘Animal House’— in a deeply resigned, partially depressing sort of way. You might be surprised how pervasive the bro culture is in every company. As far as creating ‘demonic Tony Robbinses,’ that was never the intention. Sigh.” —Brent Adamson, co-author of The Challenger Sale
“I found the article entirely plausible and totally depressing. It reminded me of Dan Lyons’s book Disrupted, which was also perfectly believable. I’ve been around since Bubble 1.0; I started working in San Francisco in 1997. The point of things like sprints and standups was to control schedule pressure and keep our work lives sane. The point of agility was to make it safe to take risks, so that we could be both bold and serene. If you focused on ‘maximizing productivity,’ you’d receive a stern talking-to about ‘outcome, not output.’ The point was not to put on a show of working hard; it was to radically increase effectiveness.
“The sales-bro culture is also nightmarish to me. It’s inevitably shortsighted. I’m sure it works to generate rapid growth, but at what cost to the people and the longterm prospects of the company?
“I have the impression that this sort of awfulness is more common in tech start-ups that aren’t in SF/ SV. I take it as classic cargo culting: instead of adopting the important parts, they adopt the visible parts.”
—wpietri, Hacker News
“As someone who’s worked in multiple start-ups, I can’t overstate how realistic this article is. Especially the sales bro and ‘culture is everything’ aspect. It’s all smoke and mirrors to a truly toxic work environment.”
—@ohhimarta, Twitter
“Everyone needs to read this piece by @pupomark, especially politicians whose only question to tech is, ‘How high would you like us to jump?’ ”
—@mssinenomine, Twitter
“This article made me really thankful for the tech company I work for. A few things it highlighted: 1) Making it in the tech industry is hard, there are tons of companies that die early and even the successful ones can be hard to work at. 2) Leadership is super important. 3) Tech is not for everyone. Even if this author worked for the best tech company that supported a good work/life balance, I’m sure he’d have found something he didn’t like about it and moved back to something he was more comfortable with. And that’s not a bad thing, either.” —JohnOConn, Reddit
“Replace ‘Toronto’ with anywhere else in North America, and you’ve got a perfect picture of what is absolutely stomach-churning about working in tech these days.”
—@NeroTheWolf, Twitter
“I thought the article did a good job of separating the douche-bro from the douche-bro chaff. It was also well-written. Gotta run. In the middle of a sick challenger-sprint.”
—EpistemicCircle, Reddit
Non–tech types liked it, too.
“Thank you, Mark Pupo, for ‘Animal House.’ I kept laughing so hard, I had to read passages to my husband to share this gem of an article. Tech people are coated with a veneer of self-importance. Strip away all their apps, and you find they don’t know much about anything else—especially the essentials of business such as strategic planning, organizational
structure and development. If all this tech culture is so great, why aren’t people happier?”
—Lisa Cooke
On the other hand, happily employed tech types objected to the way Pupo painted the whole industry with the same tainted brush.
“I’ve been working in Toronto tech for over 20 years, and I was disappointed to read Mark Pupo’s exposé. That your magazine would publish a one-sided attempt to eviscerate an industry of which I (and countless other incredibly talented people) am proud to be a part speaks volumes about the low bar you set for journalistic standards. That you call Mark ‘an exacting editor with a sharp eye for detail’ is disparaging to exacting editors.
“What kind of publication takes one man’s representation of his work experiences, which ultimately amounted to fewer than 500 business days at two different jobs, as the truth about an industry? ‘The truth about tech’? A more suitable headline would have been: ‘An angry, cynical, hyperbolic, shallow and narrow-minded view of technology here in Toronto, written by a man with very little work experience to support his claims.’
“I recognize that the industry’s reputation is far from lily white. Lately, on the global stage, there have been far too many examples of sexual discrimination, harassment and unethical business practices from the ostensible leaders in tech. But for every single cringe-worthy anecdote Mark reveals, I could counter-punch with a hundred examples of hard work, integrity, talent, inspirational leadership, fun, loyalty, innovation, grit, teamwork, diversity, determination and pride that more aptly represent the fabric of our tech community here in Toronto. And unlike Mark, I have close to 10,000 working days under my belt and a network of dozens of like-minded entrepreneurs to help me substantiate this claim.”
—Dan Shimmerman “I had a difficult time reading this ‘poor little me’ story. There’s nothing about Vision Critical that’s different from any other growing company, whether it started in the late 1800s or today. Pupo’s sense of entitlement is appalling. The characteristics/vibe/vision/governance/sales tactics/etc. are all the same. The author simply doesn’t have the experience to have seen all of this before but cries for sympathy in his writing. Get over it! Life is about finding the right spot for ourselves and finding ways to enjoy it.” —Mike Hren
Mental Notes
Readers unanimously applauded “High Anxiety,” City Councillor Joe Cressy’s memoir about his anxiety disorder.
“Typically, when politicians talk about their experiences of #mentalillness, it’s in the context of explaining errors made public. So having a politician share his private experience for the sake of talking openly about mental illness is very powerful.” —@kdorse, Twitter
“Councillor @Joe_Cressy’s courage in telling his story will help us all with one of Toronto’s biggest challenges: mental health.”
—@JohnTory, Twitter
“Beautifully written essay about the importance of considering one’s mental health, no matter how successful or high-functioning they are. Thanks to Joe Cressy for sharing.”
—@EmilieHudsonRN, Twitter
“While dealing with my own mental health challenges, I found I was either exposed to people who were totally fine, who didn’t need any medications or therapies, or to the other extreme, people who were on multiple medications and had various therapies on the go. I didn’t know anyone who was on one medication like myself, who just needed a little extra help to get through the day, to get on the TTC, to get in the elevator, to not feel panic. Knowing that Joe Cressy, like me, has general anxiety disorder shows me that it is possible to lead the busy and purposeful life I crave while also managing my mental health. “Thank you, Joe.”
—Nina Cammalleri, Oakville
Happy Pamperers
Our “Stressed-Out Urbanite’s Guide to Self-Indulgence” elicited oohs and ahhs from many stressed-out urbanites, including comments like “We should do this every weekend,” and “I. Am. Ready.” But our favourite response came from an expat Torontonian who emailed the self-portrait above with the following note:
“I recently moved to Calgary but can’t live without my Toronto Life!”
—Anastasia Sinkovskaia
Oops!
In January’s “Animal House,” we mistakenly reported that Andrew Reid owned a chalet in the Rockies and wore Air Jordans. Toronto Life regrets the errors.