February 4, 2026
Be nice? Or be CEO?
Mean People Fail (2014)
Nice wins in startups, says essay — commenters: have you met tech’s sociopaths
TLDR: A classic essay claims kindness beats cruelty in startups because great teams and ideas win. The comments split: idealists cheer, while realists say ruthless tactics still pay and do real harm—making this a live debate about how tech’s power is built and who benefits.
An old-but-gold essay is back on the timeline: Paul Graham’s “Mean People Fail” argues that successful founders are rarely jerks because meanness makes you dumb, scares off top talent, and loses in a world where building beats fighting. He even credits his cofounder-wife’s “x‑ray for character” and says the future belongs to benevolence, not zero-sum brawls. Feel-good, right? Cue the comment cage match.
Fans called it PG “at his best,” a big-ideas pep talk for choosing kindness. But the cynics swarmed. One camp dropped a brutal reality check: mean people can still win big and cause outsized damage precisely because they ignore rules—think “predatory pricing” and “regulatory capture.” Another dunked on 2014 optimism with a 2020s vibe: “mean is doing numbers.” A third insisted this works only in “orderly” society; out in the jungle, it takes minutes to cut down what takes centuries to grow.
The thread turned spicy-fast: “Nice guys finish first” vs “CEO villain arc speedrun.” Memes flew—“Mean CEO Starter Pack,” “Kindness-as-a-Strategy”—while founders chimed in that being decent helps you hire killers and outrun the fights. The verdict? No consensus, just premium drama. Idealists want the build > bully future promised. Realists say power still loves sharp elbows—and it’s trending. Both sides agree: the stakes are who gets to shape tech’s next chapter.
Key Points
- •The essay claims mean people are rare among highly successful individuals in fields like startups, programming, and academia.
- •Selection bias is acknowledged; the observation may not apply uniformly to all fields.
- •Meanness drives counterproductive fighting and narrow thinking, while startups usually win by advancing rather than attacking.
- •Mean founders struggle to attract top talent, which is critical for startup success.
- •The essay argues the economy is shifting from zero-sum resource control to non-zero-sum, idea-driven work where benevolence is advantageous.