I became CEO at 20. Here's what I learned

Re:I became CEO at 20. Here's what I learned by spookthesunset on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @11:24AM (#17126575)

I dunno man. RMS-styled leadership can only work in very narrow markets. And even in his market (free software), I'd argue his success has been hampered by his complete lack of pragmatism. Being an unchanging, unbending visionary has a very high risk of losing relevancy and/or pissing a good swath of people off.

RMS is a something, but not exactly what I'd call an excellent role model for leadership. Especially for anything outside of the narrow niche of Free Software. His leadership style would never, ever work in a for-profit company or, especially, a startup. There is no room for unbending, unwavering principled stands in a startup--you'd completely lose your shirt and go bankrupt if you never changed your startup.

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Re:I became CEO at 20. Here's what I learned by jadedhacker on Tuesday May 22, 2018 @04:34PM (#17129193)

I agree with you. I think his style of leadership is as a movement leader, not a corporate leader. Whether he is effective as a movement leader is a question, but I think he is starting to be more relevant again with the kinds of questions we are asking these days about control and privacy.

Movement leaders often become unpopular for a time before they become relevant again. For instance, MLK was exceedingly unpopular after his anti-Vietnam speech until his death. I don't mean to put RMS on the same level as MLK, he's just the prominent example of that pattern that springs to mind.

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