Conversation

Jesse Powell
@jespow
1/ We recently attempted to summarize what the
@krakenfx
culture has been over the past 11 years, and what we hope it continues to be. We had a few heated debates and it turns out we have about 20 people out of 3200 who are totally not on board. 👇🧵
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Kraken Exchange
@krakenfx
·
What does it all mean? It's time to get back to building! We've got 500+ roles still left to fill this year. Bear markets are the best for recruiting talent that is both aligned with our culture and our mission. Check out Kraken Culture Explained for more. blog.kraken.com/post/14372/kra
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
2/ 60% have been with the company for < 6 months. So, no biggie, except 20 unhappy people can sap the productivity out of another 400 with little effort. It basically works like a SYN flood DoS. People want to be helpful but it's draining and resentment is often misplaced.
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
3/ How did this happen? Lots of hiring, fast, without enough emphasis on culture + mission fit, and at a time when crypto was super hot. Tons of amazingly talented people were looking for a seat on the next rocket ship, not realizing that crypto's more of a rollercoaster.
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
4/ Great talent, bad fit. When things were rosy, everybody got along. When things started to look grim, sensitivities and the misalignment came through. People focused on minor slights, first world problems rather than our really big, important Mission to help billions of people.
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
5/ What are they upset about? * DEI (Silicon Valley's version) * pronouns, whether someone can identify as a different race and be allowed to use the N-word * whether differences in human sex exist at all * being respected and unoffended * being "harmed" by "violent" words FWP
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
6/ We've got people in 70+ countries, speaking 50+ languages in the company, trying to build products for people in 190. Differing perspectives will be shared. That's DIVERSITY. It's not always easy. You've gotta be resilient, humble, open and highly tolerant of differing norms.
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
Replying to
@jespow
8/ Then it's about "silencing" people 😂. Funny thing is the biggest activists have the most myopic view of the world. They don't realize how discriminatory they are to others. You want to be "inclusive" by asking an ESL Saudi candidate his pronouns/gender in a job interview?
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
9/ Most people don't care and just want to work, but they can't be productive while triggered people keep dragging them in to debates and therapy sessions. The answer for us was to just lay out the culture doc and say: agree and commit, disagree and commit, or take the cash✌️
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
10/ Unfortunately, that's not enough for everyone. Someone's likely been sharing internal chat (in breach of their NDA) devoid of context, with a journalist who we expect to publish a hit piece in the next few days. I just want to say we welcome all, and don't believe the news.
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Jesse Powell
@jespow
11/11 We're going to keep building and hopefully do a better job of filtering up front. I think we've developed some really thoughtful policies that might not appease woke activists but work for the other 99% of the world. If that sounds nice, check out:
kraken.com
Crypto Jobs & Careers | Browse Crypto Job Openings | Kraken
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Ian
@IanWhoTweets
Replying to
@jespow
"Problem is I'm way more studied on the policy topics" I see the Dunning-Kruger effect at work here. Keep up the great work.
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Bob Nease
@bobnease
Replying to
@jespow
So you're saying that being open minded means calling people who disagree with you not as "studied" as you, triggered, and unwilling to engage in honest debate. Look, it's your company, your rules... but please have the backbone to spare us the righteous chest thumping.
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Jeanne Coquet N.
@BickyDil
That's what wokism is though, censure of rational debate in favor of triggered sentiments. Hence he is merely censuring the mighty censurers. Balsy move nowadays.
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