Was This About Me?

I often get people asking if something I wrote was about them or their company.

I have a rule for myself.

I don’t write a post about a specific person or company without making it clear that the post is about that person or company.

There are times when I don’t want to name that person or company, but when something is about a someone or some company, I don’t hide that. I make it clear.

On the day I wrote the “Greed Isn’t Good” post, I got a lot of questions about who or what it was about.

I replied on Twitter:

I do not send messages to people or companies via a post on my blog. If I want to tell someone something, I will do that privately.

#Weblogs

Comments (Archived):

    1. jason wright

      How’s that waiting list looking?

      1. kenberger

        you mean for our Crypto Valley Trip?way over subscribed for the 30 spots.but we’ll be having another one in late October in Zug again, and other locations after that.

        1. jason wright

          in late October? that would be better for me. August is a bit of a holiday season crunch. thanks.

        2. jason wright

          Please ink me in for October.

    2. kenberger

      Every time Fred gets this question from now on, he should simply reply: “You’re So Vain.”

      1. LE

        Apparently the behavior which is so derided in the lyrics of that song is quite effective. They evoked enough emotion that a song like that was written. We should all be so lucky.For the Seventies singer has finally revealed the real inspiration behind her hit track wasn’t a boyfriend at all – it was openly gay record producer David Geffen.Also interesting to note that Carly, like Fred said this:Previously Simon had always claimed the song was a ‘composite’ of people she knew.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

        1. Salt Shaker

          Carly lived in my UWS hood for many years. Used to see her and her brood at a fav burger joint that since has closed. Not sure she’s still there. (Simon & Schuster heir).

          1. LE

            In the early 00’s I dated a girl (UES) who I really thought was super attractive. It seemed that I thought she was way way more attractive than most other people. Not that they didn’t think she was. When I brought her to the state that I lived in at the time she turned heads. Not in NYC though (you get the point). I was like ‘why is nobody starring at her?’ (funny huh).Anyway after we had broken up I pulled up some videos such as the one that I posted here and realized why. She looked like Carly Simon. She was, like, a total Carly Simon. When I first met her not having thought about Carly since high school I didn’t realize that. And I wasn’t hot for Carly in high school either. She was someone my older sister listened to. But apparently it had implanted in my brain or something and made me more attracted to the girl that I dated. What I call in part ‘secondary meaning’.

  1. edzschau

    The Prez could learn something from your approach Fred re:Twitter

  2. jason wright

    Well I doubted it was about Eli Gould.

  3. Pete Griffiths

    Si it wasn’t about me then. )

    1. jason wright

      You would need to up your greediness. Launch an ICO, allocate yourself several million tokens gratis, and then start selling them off before your alpha product is anywhere near ready. That would qualify you.

      1. Pete Griffiths

        Thanks for the tip.Will try to do better.

  4. JimHirshfield

    This post is about Fred, I’m sure it is.

  5. WA

    Praise in public – punish privately. Good policy on many levels.

  6. Rob Larson

    Wait… so was THIS post about me?

  7. awaldstein

    Probably the best movie that addresses this question in art is an obscure really good indie film call The Anniversary Party, written and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

    1. panterosa,

      Was looking for a film for tonight. Cued up, with some rosΓ©. Thanks Arnold πŸ™‚

      1. awaldstein

        pretty quirky but i’m a fan of it. I like ensemble pieces and i love the canyons of la where it was shot.

  8. LE

    I do not send messages to people or companies via a post on my blog. If I want to tell someone something, I will do that privately.I am the same way. However I do see value in sending messages indirectly as well in certain circumstances. When personally.Doing so (once again in some cases) actually can be considered a sign of respect instead of avoidance. And in other cases because it doesn’t cause a direct confrontation it gives the target the chance to think. And at the very least not have to deal with feeling like they are being spoken to by a parent that is telling them they are being punished for doing something wrong.My parents tend to do this type of thing. If they are upset they go radio silent for a few days or cut conversations short. Then it blows over. I have a chance to contemplate what I ‘did wrong’. But I don’t have to admit guilt and I don’t have to say anything and life goes on. And they feel they did their part and expressed their feelings. I prefer that totally over being told directly. That said In business I would typically want to be told directly. Ditto with my wife. No way would I like a mood change or behavior instead of direct expression. That’s torture!

  9. Pete Griffiths

    ‘Methinks the lady protesteth too much.’This is clearly Fred trying to dig himself out of having sailed too close to the wind.

  10. Kirsten Lambertsen

    In addition to a lot of big egos, I guess there are a lot of guilty consciences out there πŸ˜‰

  11. jason wright

    Whenever you’ve written about valuation I’ve had the feeling you’re in a valuation negotiation at that time.