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Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bob_theslob646 on Monday January 01, 2018 @10:58PM (#16049758)
Who would want to work for someone like this? If I can get my work done efficiently, why do I have to stay at the office?

This billionaire should read deep work, maybe he would attract more talent.

>“I want people who sleep in the office,” says Mr. Alabbar, the founder of the now three-month-old startup. “Want to go walk your dog in the afternoon and all that? I’m not the guy you work for.”

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by autotune on Monday January 01, 2018 @11:34PM (#16049897)
Basically the most desperate and cheapest available out there. Also the paywall causes the article to end at this quote, which is perfect because I have no desire to read any more of it.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by Mountain_Skies on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:14AM (#16050027)
Like so many startup founders, he expects everyone working for him to share his passion for his vision. It's an unrealistic expectation when your business depends on being able to scale rapidly and by orders of magnitude.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by gaius on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @05:02AM (#16050977)
he expects everyone working for him to share his passion for his vision.

So long as they also have an equal share in the equity... oh wait

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bufferoverflow on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:15AM (#16050034)
And this: "Noon laid off at least 200 employees out of a total of 700 as it readied itself". That's quite insane for a startup taking on Amazon.

I'm giving it 0.1% chance of outcompeting Amazon locally, zero chance globally.

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bitL on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:54AM (#16050150)
Give US working hours + 0% equity :D I am sure this is a recipe for unbelievable success... Did he get his inspiration in Berlin?
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by claudiug on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @06:42AM (#16051323)
ooo Berlin, my amazing city. wannabe startup people, German mentality of taking any risk, cheap labor and hipster. Also, is not cheap anymore :)
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by ddorian43 on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @06:08AM (#16051195)
Please explain.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bitL on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @07:31PM (#16057293)
It's popular in German-speaking countries, especially in Berlin, to lure developers to work on startups, offering 0% equity, insane working hours (crushes), barely livable wages, low job protection (small companies can fire more-less at will), all for glory of owners getting pay off at the end if successful (mostly by copying existing US companies and adapting them to local market specifics), being subject to treatment as "idiots" as those owners can't value people that would voluntarily work for them under those circumstances of course.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by ddorian43 on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @07:42PM (#16057346)
What type of salary do you mean ? Example is 50K good (normal conditions) ?
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bitL on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @08:50PM (#16057649)
Often <45k. You should aim for 70K+ if you want to move to Germany, preferably 85K which would give you middle-class life. 100K+ is fairly rare. Or go to Switzerland and get 250K.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by myf01d on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @05:29AM (#16051070)
He means he simply wants hardworking and smart slaves whose only mission in life is to achieve his goals and increase his wealth
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by a012 on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @01:20AM (#16050240)
Sounds like a modern day of slavery.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by jswizzy on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @02:14AM (#16050411)
They actually have real slavery in Dubai and I'm guessing because this guy is in real estate that he is probably involved in that.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by throwaway31321 on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @10:40AM (#16052435)
Amusing, considering that his employees are likely to have also been sourced from India.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by richardknop on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @08:29AM (#16051709)
Slavery is well and alive in many middle eastern countries. Especially in construction industry often work is done by foreigners who are treated basically like slaves, often their passports being held and them forced to work for very little money.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by doppp on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @03:08AM (#16050597)
Sounds like Bezos.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by pokstad on Monday January 01, 2018 @11:14PM (#16049818)
Sounds like Elon.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by adventured on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:14AM (#16050030)
No, not really. Tesla + SpaceX have ~25,000 employees. While Musk is without a doubt a hard charger, always pushing his employees, it's a pretty big leap to suggest those 25,000 employees are all working 80 hours per week, sleeping under their desks, and can't walk their dogs in the afternoon.

Here's the actual reality: 99% of those 25,000 employees are on normal work schedules, with normal work expectations. There are no organizations of that scale in the US where the employees all work crazy hours and sleep under their desks; quite the opposite, organizations that large always drift toward the middle by necessity (they can't attract tens of thousands of workers in a highly competitive labor market otherwise).

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by dbcurtis on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @12:25AM (#16050056)
Do you actually know any Tesla employees personally? Because I know one ex-Tesla and two current Tesla employees. Tesla sounds like a burn-out factory once you have a deep conversation about the reality of working there.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by bornonline1 on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @05:39AM (#16051112)
Factories in general aren't known as a great workplaces. A great factory is barely 'ok place to work there'. Everyone knows that they are stuck in their salary bracket, you don't have the energy to educate yourself for a better job, competition between promotions is high and even if you become a line manager , you still have all the problems.

I worked in a factory. It's almost impossible to build a large factory with great work environment.

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by gaius on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @04:59AM (#16050970)
There are no organizations of that scale in the US where the employees all work crazy hours and sleep under their desk

The US Navy expects officers at sea to only sleep about 5 hours a day. This is implicated in at least 3 incidents of warship collisions.

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by neotriple on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @09:23AM (#16051946)
I have no clue where you're getting your information from. But as an ex SpaceX'er with friends still working there and friends at Tesla, they absolutely work at least 70-80 hours a week. This is not an 'anomaly', but the norm. In addition, the expectations are incredibly high.
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by jeandejean on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @02:33AM (#16050475)
Well at least Elon's got a vision and push innovation. How motivating is it to copy a business that is already ubiquitous and very efficient?
Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by balladeer on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @06:59AM (#16051386)
I think, in both the cases, the prime motivation would be money, if at all.

Elon "pushing" innovation means zero for most sane employees unless paid handsomely and compensated for the loss of "life" (depends on what a person calls life, because I have colleagues who are happiest at the work place and make an effort to stay extra hours; w/o overtime).

So speaking generally, both Elon and this Saudi billionaire are similarly bad employers if they advocate and push for for such unhealthy work-life balance.

Re:Dubai Billionaire's Tech Startup Takes on Amazon by Audible_logic on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @08:29AM (#16051712)
Follow that up with firing 200 out of 700 employees when money became an issue. Sounds like an amazing career opportunity. If nothing else, you will leave with a new appreciation for you next opportunity at a realistically demanding organization...