Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
Coinbase CEO on “mission”, one year later: “Most positive change I’ve ever made” (twitter.com/brian_armstrong)
5 points by jmeister on Oct 2, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 6 comments



“..it has allowed us to hire some of the best talent from organizations where employees are fed up with politics, infighting, and distraction.”

“we've grown our headcount about 110%, while our diversity numbers have remained the same, or even improved on some metrics.”

“The only sense I can make of it(media coverage), is that there is a huge mismatch between peoples stated and revealed preferences right now, and we're operating in an environment of virtue signaling and fear of speaking up.”


   statistically, he is not wrong...


Did you predict last year that their head count would be up 110% in a year?

or did you predict that they’d shut shop soon?


I predicted Coinbase would enter a vicious cycle in which the work culture increasingly promotes ass-covering and discourages conscientiousness.

Sometimes people who don't work for, or work with, a company with bad ethics never know better. Other times things get out of hand (like at Enron, Uber, Theranos, etc) and everyone finds out.

It's too early to alter my prediction about Coinbase. A company can thrive for a long time with a gross work environment like that.


Fair enough. Apparently most POC employees didn’t leave Coinbase, but yes, it’s too early to tell.


The shift in company culture that I am thinking about is about how strongly people react to react to social justice issues, not really the issues themselves.

I think, deep down, Coinbase wants a tough, driven, mercenary workforce. If that's the workforce they get, POC or not, it has downsides.

If a company has a certain number of employees who are sort of flakey, idealistic types, it probably guards against employee turnover, departmental silos, fraud. You want some employees who sometimes do what they think is the right thing, for its own sake, and aren't so career-driven that they undercut others.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: