[reureu]

I've worked for a few startups that have had a cult-like following, and it's never gone well. If you gave notice, you immediately got the cold shoulder from all of the execs - to the point that there weren't officially sanctioned goodbye parties. People got pushed out if they asked any questions that could be perceived as critical of the company or product. At one company I worked at, people would cheer absolutely everything in company meetings ("we missed our Q3 goals by 60%" loud applause "Don't worry, we'll get it next time!"). Company has layoffs, and nobody would believe that it could be due to poor performance, so they went with other implausible explanations.

The unfortunate thing about these cultures is that they self-select for the worst kind of employee. If you think there are areas of improvement in your company or product, and that's viewed as not being loyal, then you end up only with employees who already believe the company or product is perfect. Personally, I'd rather work with people who recognize the faults in their product and are actively working to fix them.

The only exception I've encountered is where there's a cult-like following AND verifiable performance of the product. Apple has a cult-like following among employees and enthusiasts, but they also make products people love and you can tell that objectively from their quarterly earnings calls [note: I'm aware that Apple certainly has it's own sets of issues with its product and work culture, my point is simply that a cult following of Apple is different from a cult following of your shitty benefits platform].

These experiences led me to a, perhaps, cynical conclusion: the more cult-like the culture, the easier it is for the executives and investors to fleece the employees. While everybody is cheering the quarterly losses, and unquestioningly supporting every product release, your executives are negotiating parachutes for when the company gets acquired for dimes on the dollar. It completely makes sense to me that Peter Thiel thinks this is a good thing: he's benefiting from those cults.

[xstartup]

I think some low-level employees will greatly benefit from a class in philosophy.

It's not about the fault or that if the employee is right.

Founder makes a promise to customers. He comes with an initial vision. It might be a flawed vision but if the product has got any traction before you even joined. It means his flawed vision works in the market.

Don't mistake market for the world. Don't mistake your world-view for the complete truth of market or world.

Your worldview is just another way of seeing this world and unproven way since that's not what got him his first customers. Why do you want him to bet on your unproven worldview? I see newbie traders making this mistake over and over.

That's the only thing which matters.

That's his worldview and his company took off within his worldview, there is no reason to change that. Unless of course, you have an axe to the grind and you are clearly irreplaceable, try that and if he is any good and catches you halfway, next you are out of the company.

It doesn't matter who is right. It doesn't matter what is right. What matters how consistent you are in your worldview. That's what gives company success.

If you have a superior worldview, best a founder can do is - fire you, so you are set free and you start your own company, compete with them and then lose until you correct your worldview.

They do not want to bet on your worldview, you are not above the founder, no employee really is.

That's what you need to understand.