You know, this is some shit that I expect when dealing with some shady asshole on ebay, but LMG?
Bro… Are you ok?
I always wondered if Linus was actually a slimy POS, but this Billet Labs situation has cemented it for me. If you haven’t watched the Gamers Nexus followup video, definitely watch it.
I honestly don’t understand why Luke puts up with him. I’d have left years ago. Although I have never been friends with the pompous tit to begin with.
Probably because it’s the best paying job he can ever get. What’s he gonna do when he leaves? Which other podcast/YouTube channel can he work for that’s in the Greater Vancouver Area? If he leaves his live would get upended, he either needs to move or switch careers and in both cases probably takes a salary cut. This is how shitty bosses like Linus retain employees. Just look at other shitty companies where employees don’t have transferable skills that only apply to one very specific industry, like for example the gaming industry. Employees don’t leave even when the bosses behave terribly, like Riot Games
Riot Games behaves terribly?
It was basically run like a frat house. Ball tapping, farting in people’s faces, unsolicited dick pics. Basically bro culture imposed by the C-suite and that went on for years and when the company punished these men who enabled that behavior all they got was a slap on the wrist. You’d expect a company like that would have a hard time finding people, but no people stay and fresh grads are eager to work there. Basically because it’s one of the biggest employers in the gaming industry in LA. Same with Blizzard, it baffles me why people still want to work there after all the shit that happened there while Kotick and his then girlfriend, Sheryl Sandberg, even tried to cover the story up.
I get it.
Imagine you start working with your friend, and you start to get successful. He starts acting like an asshole more and more, the friend part shrinks and the boss part grows, and he’s oblivious to that.
But he also trusts you, would happily fund you building new things, and has an enormous audience. He’s only willing to share a small slice of the pie, but it’s a very big pie
Now either you leave and get a normal job, or you stay, get lots of autonomy, minor fame, and maybe a ton of money down the line, but you have to handle a narcissist.
Also by staying, you can steer the narcissist now and again - and that ripples out into the viewers
Linus has done a lot for him, that is probably the main thing.