What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture

by Ben Horowitz

One Rock Boss asked me, “Where are you from?” It was more of a diagnostic than a question. When I replied “Brightmo”—the ’hood pronunciation of Brightmoor, a neighborhood in Detroit—I gained credibility. Had I been from the suburbs, it would have indicated vulnerability. The next question was, “What you in here for?” I replied “Murder.” Murder was a much more prestigious crime than, say, a sex offense, which would have made me a target. So I was safe for the moment, but I could see everything going forward would be a test. If people were playing basketball and you said, “I got next,” and then somebody else said they got next, you had to decide if you would let a motherfucker take your next or not. If not, you had to be willing to stand up for yourself and fight. It’s one integrated system from the streets to the jail to the prison. Your personal brand follows you. Do people know you from the streets as someone that’s got respect? Do you have dirt on your name for snitching? There was this whole predatory energy. If family put money on your books you can be robbed. You might be vulnerable sexually. It’s literally all in the first day that this is what it is. They called it the gladiator school, because it’s where you established your rank.