The CEO of a crypto startup cofounded by Sam Altman thinks his company’s mission is so important that employees should care about their work and nothing else.
Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania reportedly said during a staff meeting in January that any employee who thought differently had no place at the company.
In a slide deck reportedly displayed at the company’s now-former office in San Francisco, an outline of blunt work values were also justified because of the company’s ambitious mission.
“We are very (very) hard working. We believe this is a once in a lifetime project and that success is important for humanity,” one of the slides read, according to a video reviewed by Business Insider. “Therefore, we work weekends, we’re always on call, and we push as hard as our circumstances allow us to. As a result we defy the odds, get to escape velocity and succeed on the mission.”
Other values include that the company has no time for “slowness and comfort,” and that employees shouldn’t worry about hurting each other’s feelings, according to Business Insider.
“The organization’s transparency about its values and operating principles has resulted in building a team that is passionate and focused on its increasingly urgent mission of ensuring every human benefits from the age of AI,” a Tools for Humanity spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune.
While larger companies may mince words, Blania apparently did not hold back. Any other pursuit, apart from the company’s mission, is a distraction, including DEI and politics, said Blania during the employee gathering.
“We just care about, how can we achieve the mission through merit, performance, and excellence?” he said.
