Comments on: Passive-Aggressive Behavior Is Useless In A Startup

By: Steve Bergstein

Steve Bergstein — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:17:06 +0000

There’s are many reasons that I migrated from a BigCo to a LittleCo and this is without doubt one of them.

Sometimes, it surprises me that any large organization can achieve its goals.

By: Nari Kannan

Nari Kannan — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:17:37 +0000

I think Brad is on to something here with passive aggressive people in a startup. In my highly generalized world, there are two main kinds of people: whiners and doers. You need to end up with a small number of doers that get along with each other in a startup. Too many doers, they sit in a conference room arguing whether “Goto”s are really good programming or not or whether Java is better than .Net! Whiners may be needed in a large company bit they will suck the enthusiasm in a startup!

By: Maggie Wells

Maggie Wells — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:20:27 +0000

The number one cause of passive aggressive behavior is micro-management. How many entrepreneurs do you know who don’t have a tendency to micro-manage?

By: Derek Scruggs

Derek Scruggs — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:06:19 +0000

In reality however, people don’t like most of the people they have to work with.

If this is the case in a startup, it will probably fail. You don’t have to be best buddies, but you have to respect and get along with each other. When hiring you have to take this in to account. If I, as the leader, don’t do a good job at this, the fault lies squarely with me.

By: Phil Collins

Phil Collins — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:57:12 +0000

Maybe in fairy tale amusement park wonderland there is no passive-aggressive behavior in your startup. In reality however, people don’t like most of the people they have to work with. Passive-aggressiveness is the only way people can get along in this kind of unnatural environment.

By: Eric Marcoullier

Eric Marcoullier — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:48:07 +0000

Surprise, surprise. Startup tactics rarely work any better in large companies. Entrepreneurs often have to resort to sheer force of will to get stuff accomplished and boy does that piss off management

By: Brad Feld

Brad Feld — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:24:03 +0000

@Dennis – it varies dramatically. The best situations (and leaders) are the ones that are open to different perspectives, bat them around for a finite amount of time, and then make a decision. If I find that a CEO is being passive-aggressive or if I’m “always wrong” I know there is a problem. Alternatively, if I’m always right, there’s also a problem.

By: Dennis North

Dennis North — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:42:19 +0000

just curious, when you suggest ideas to your startups and they push-back, what percentage of time do you end up agreeing with them vs saying they are wrong?