Disrupted: Ludicrous Misadventures in the Tech Start-up Bubble

by Dan Lyons

“We’re not just selling a product here,” Dave tells us. “HubSpot is leading a revolution. A movement. HubSpot is changing the world. This software doesn’t just help companies sell products. This product changes people’s lives. We are changing people’s lives.” He tells a story about a guy named Brandon, a pool installer in Virginia.

I’m working for the people who fill your email inbox with junk mail, the online equivalent of those pesky telemarketers who call you at dinnertime to sell you new windows or a set of solar panels for your roof. I rationalize this by telling myself that while the work might be ignoble, it’s not necessarily evil. We’re not Hitler. We’re just annoying people. Sure, arguably we are making the world a little bit worse—but only a little bit. That’s what I tell myself.

“Who’s they?” I say, cutting him off. “You see what I mean? Who’s they? All I know is that someone just fucked me, and I don’t know who. There’s a dick in my ass, but it’s a mystery dick.

Sequoia Capital, a firm with a reputation for throwing out founders who fail to meet expectations.

I remind myself that I have a lot to be thankful for—realizing, even as I do, that the only people who say this are people who are desperate and miserable.

“I tell my board as little as possible,” he says. “I treat them like mushrooms, I keep them in the dark and feed them shit. I don’t want them meddling in my business and telling me what to do.”

“It’s all about the business model. The market pays you to have a company that scales quickly. It’s all about getting big fast. Don’t be profitable, just get big.”