Poor Sam (Altman)

Okay, where do I start with this? There’s so much juice in this story!

I hope you’re up to date with what’s happened at OpenAI. If you’re not, read this first. Then come back. There’s a lesson in this, and it might save you years.

For investors, staff, and Sam - it’s been less than an idea experience in the last few days. It’s clear that Sam has lead the OpenAI team well. By Seth Godin’s definition, he’s been remarkable. "Worthy of remark." He caused an uprising - his team are happy to part ways with something they’ve spent years building. Shit like that doesn’t happen everyday.

I’m sure it frightens the heck out of venture capitalists - is this how its going to be now?

It’s isolated. An outlier. Why? Because of Sam’s insane skill in leadership, coupled with the innovation at OpenAI, with a dash of culture.

The ‘bad guys’ aka The Board at OpenAI are smart people. It’s a group of very successful entrepreneurs. Elon used to be among them until 2018! So how did they not see this coming? Or rather, why has it unfolded like this?

I think I know. It’s not as complicated as everyone is making it seem.

It’s a communication breakdown. Like with disputes, team breakups, backstabbing, and wars - people aren’t communicating.

While Sam has obvious, die-hard support from his team, it’s the complete opposite from the board! The see-saw is stuck on one end.

Why?

Neither party put enough effort into managing the relationship. The Board didn’t put enough attention in building a relationship with Sam. Likewise, Sam didn’t place the same importance on building a relationship with the board as he did with his team.

The Board needed both types of people. People who have experience working IN a company, and ON a company.

So what's the lesson you can take from this? I'm sure you can see it coming.

Know the people that matter, and care about them. Give a crap. If you’re a corporate leader, supporting your team isn’t your only job. It’s influencing and aligning with the people that you report to. That’s the harder, and less understood part.

Can’t want for the Netflix special.

That’s it for today.

Harry

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends. If you don’t have any, tell your dog.