The Problem With (Tech) Gurus
In every new movement, there are leaders, and some of them are discrete, some of them are outspoken. These gurus are or feel legitimate to "guide" others to something.
Most of them are harmless, because nobody really follows them. Some of them are excellent, because they are experts and they really try to help others.
And some of them are dangerous. Either because they try to deceive you (often to take your money, you will find many of them in crypto, dropshipping etc...). Or because they try to make you join a movement that is not "good" (dictators and gurus of cults for example).
In Tech, we have seen many thought leaders in the last 25 years, one of the first being Steve Jobs, considered by many as a genius and a guru. But not everything was good about him, and many suffered in his presence.
Many followed including the toxic leaders of Theranos or WeWork and with the growth of Youtube and other platforms, some aspiring gurus saw the opportunity to shine without necessarily having to do the work of an expert.
Recently, the story of French tech guru Osama Amar broke, and he was certainly more of a content guru than a true successful entrepreneur. And it seems to have ended badly. What’s interesting to me is that at the beginning it can be hard to distinguish a Guru “for Good" from a toxic one. Read the entire Post by Romain Vidal from Teampact Ventures here 👈
Analysis 💡 Immigrants Make Up A Significant Portion Of Founders
French citizens will elect their next president on April 10. Of the 5 candidates who have a real chance of passing the 1st round - with opinion polls above 10% of voting intentions - 2 are clearly positioned on the extreme right with a very harsh speech on immigration.
In recent years, Trump had also made racist and xenophobic attacks his trademark. It is in these moments that it’s important to recall a major statistical fact and to link immigration and business. Immigrants make up only 14 percent of the U.S. population. Yet, if you look at the four most valuable U.S. companies financed by venture capital funds, all have immigrant founders and CEOs. At the same time, in the public markets, four of the seven most valuable U.S. companies are now led by immigrants.
Instacart’s CEO, Fidji Simo, hails from France. Meanwhile, Instacart’s founder and former CEO, Apoorva Mehta, was born in India. Databricks’ founder and CEO, Ali Ghodsi, was born in Iran and moved to Sweden as a child, his compagny raised a $1.6 billion round last August of 2021 at a $38 billion valuation.
Stripe is co-founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison, who hail from Ireland.
And SpaceX, of course, is founded and led by Elon Musk, a native of South Africa who attended college in Canada before moving to Silicon Valley.
Examples of listed companies run by immigrants: the CEO and co-founder of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, is a native of Taiwan who immigrated to the U.S. with his family at age 9. Even more famous, Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, the CEOs of Google and Microsoft, respectively, are from India.
Speak up 📣 Brands Pitch Mental Health
From hotels to car manufacturers to meal kit makers, countless companies are putting mental wellness at the heart of their marketing. As the issue becomes increasingly destigmatized - with celebrities and athletes openly discussing their own mental health - companies see an opportunity to connect with consumers.
Covid-19 has played a key role in raising mental health awareness. Simone Biles has been one of the most high-profile athletes - tennis star Naomi Osaka and former swimmer Michael Phelps are also on the list - to open up about mental health in recent years. In France very recently, the captain of the national handball team Valentin Porte revealed that he was in therapy following his separation from his wife.
DATA 📊 Are You (Still) Languishing?
You know, that feeling of aimlessness and indifference that you’ve been pushing to the back of your mind? It has a name - and it’s called languishing.
Good news, you are not alone! During this trying pandemic, up to 2 in 10 people experienced languishing. And some have been finding it hard to move away from it since!
In this article, researcher Adam Grant gives out a few tips to foster flow, an antidote for languishing. Flow is a state of total immersion in the moment that is fulfilling in itself (and helps us get things done!).
Free uninterrupted periods of time for deep focus. A Fortune 500 company once implemented a ‘no interruption’ policy for its engineers. 3 days per week, there were to be no meetings for extended periods of time. The results? 65% above-average productivity, versus 45% for employees who were self-managed!
Focus on a small goal. Strive for ‘just-manageable difficulty’ - something challenging enough that you feel stimulated, but not so much that you feel discouraged.
So, ready to find your flow?
News 🗞️ How Good Vibes Turned Into A “Nightmare” @ Glovo
Late last year, Sifted began receiving messages from current and former staff at the company, many of whom said that Glovo’s ruthless and unempathetic management style had had serious impacts on their mental health.
“It was mentally so stressful. It gave me nightmares and I’m still having them,” one of them told us. These early conversations were with staff from Glovo’s Italian office, the company’s second biggest market (which has been running since 2016 and currently employs more than 300 people), and initially seemed like they could be a symptom of an isolated, regional issue for the company. But after speaking to 10 current and former staff, some of whom reported to the senior leadership team in the Barcelona HQ, a picture emerged of a company making frantic and poor decisions, at a cost to Glovo’s performance and the wellbeing of some of its employees. Read the full investigation here ⬅️
The Nugget 🍪 Tech Firms Are Offering Candidates Money To Interview 🙃
“It's never been more expensive to hire new people” says one entrepreneur who recently had 16 positions to fill in his company. The “"Great Resignation” has widened the gap between the supply and demand of tech workers, and has made employers resort to extreme incentives to recruit as many of them as possible. The situation is so bad that some companies offer hundreds of euros to candidates who simply agree to a first interview. It can be ridiculous or downright hopeless. But in the current context of war for talent, we can also be satisfied that “golden hello”, “welcome bonus” and other packages are no longer the prerogative of a few privileged people…
To remind you
"ppl first" is committed and benevolent for employees, managers, and founders!
What is ppl first? It's a company that puts the employee at the heart of the strategy, considering that a fulfilled worker will make a healthy and sustainable business.
Why ppl first? Everything is accelerating and for years customer is too often the top priority, the employee is sometimes an adjustment variable. Less considered, he/she's also less committed.
How ppl first? There are many ways to achieve this (or to stay this way) but there is a common base. When a staff member would not recommend to his friends to work with him/her, when the management does not have clear values to defend etc. Staff is at risk and the company with it. To have or maintain a people first culture you need to care about your employees as individuals.