Even if you could come up with a good definition, it would still be a silly assertion. He’s wrong: not being an asshole won’t make you more money. Being an asshole will also not make you more money. How nice or not nice you are to other people is almost entirely unrelated to how much money you make.
It's not a silly assertion, it's just that you've taken silly things away from this article. He's asserting that if you're too self interested / lack empathy you will hurt yourself in the long run.
In the context of business, I would frame being an asshole as doing things that benefit yourself at the expense of others. Not being an asshole is doing things that benefit yourself and others.
Let's say you sell some Saas tool. You're an asshole if you try to sell to anyone even if you think it won't help them. You're not an asshole if you truly believe your service will benefit your customers. You're an idiot if you're selling to someone and you can't tell the difference.
I agree that my definition was certainly lacking but I hope this clarifies my intent to separate true assholery with simply being unpleasant to be around.
It doesn't matter. The point is the same either way. If you screw other people to get value for yourself it's a short term play. From office politics to corporate agreements, you should avoid the temptation to fuck others for your gain. It will probably hurt you in the long term.
That’s way too general. If I’m a start up raising money from a VC and I counter with an offer of a lower percentage of equity for an investment, I’m doing something that benefits me at the expense of others.
I would say you’d need to layer on top being deceitful or underhanded in your actions.
The goal is that everyone enters into an arrangement with full knowledge of the terms.
That is true in the way that PG uses it , but in this article its pretty clear what constitutes an "asshole" in business -- assholes are parasites. If you continually enter into deals that are exploitive of the other party, rather than mutually beneficial, you're an "asshole".
There is a difference, for example, between being vindictive towards others, and simply pushing people out of their comfort zone.
The term "asshole" is so vague that it borders on useless.
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