slow down and fix things

drew olanoff
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

Yes, you’ve seen this poster a zillion times. It’s a Facebook motto that Silicon Valley adopted (or vice versa…whatever).

The problem with moving fast and breaking things is you tend to get sloppier the faster you go and you tend to break things you didn’t intend to break along the way. But since you’re moving fast, the damage is done…simply move on. Repeat.

That’s the Silicon Valley way!

Meh.

I’m sure the genesis of the phrase and the sentiment wasn’t mean-spirited. I’m sure a bunch of engineers were just trying to say that if you don’t obsess over every single detail, great things will come from that freedom. But as per usual, assholes got a hold of a phrase, adopted it, and made it their own. Move fast and break things turned into “fuck over whoever you want to, break any rule that’s in your way, and to hell with any damage done…we’re making a ton of cash and people will forget.”

This line of thinking is a) inhumane b) not sustainable and c) dangerous.

Yeah, I’m getting older. I’ve been in the Bay Area for over 10 years, and while I’m certainly no business genius, not a millionaire, haven’t started tons of companies, taken VC money, etc. I’ve been around the block. I’ve seen everything from a failed attempt to toss a CEO who was lying to everyone about their whereabouts (when they were “fundraising”), including their wife, to a VC who created shell companies on the weekend for fun and used LP money as a personal piggy bank and everything in between.

“Move fast” has definitely turned into “don’t worry about whether it’s legal or moral, do it anyway.” How do we rectify it? Well, the opposite of the ethos. Slow down and fix things. To even start to fix the shitty treatment of women and lack of diversity in our Peter Pan industry, signatures on a virtual document whipped up on LinkedIn in 20 minutes isn’t gonna do it. A session at one conference isn’t going to do it. Tweets won’t do it. This Medium post won’t do it.

Taking your time and being thoughtful has become difficult for a lot of people. But just like any other habit, repetition is the key. If we don’t, things will just get worse. I mean, we’re at the point where some rich dude thinks that blaming the media is the right way to defend his firm’s horrible treatment of women. Nope, not talking about Trump, either.

Slow the fuck down. Fix what you’ve broken. Otherwise, everything we’ve screwed up in our wake will be “the norm” for the next residents of this fine valley of ours.

That would be really really sad.

drew olanoff

Written by

troubadour @scaleworks #blamedrewscancer + @balboaorg

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