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Comment on Why I Work for Jason Calacanis (and Freakin’ Love It)parent

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One correction: Mahalo has had close to zero turnover in the past year. It is far from a revolving door... more like a line of folks out the door who want to get it!

Now, you are correct that my skill is in finding talent....... and developing it.... and finding markets....... and attacking them.... and raising capital...... and then more capital... and in marketing products....... and in branding/naming.... ... and motivating folks... and creating company culture.

I've basically gotten lucky like six times in a row... the streak will be over shortly.

Pure evil.

To correct Jason, I think our near zero turnover has been closer to 8-9 months long. But it's certainly improved significantly over when I started at Mahalo about a year and a half ago. I would attribute that to Jason's hiring of smart people, recognizing those with skills in areas he may be weak in, and putting them in positions where they can do something about it.

I'd say this is far from evil.

Just to be sure that I haven't misspoken: I'm not using the word evil to say that Jason is in some way similar to the devil. He's a smart guy who I'm sure has done some really nice things. I'm using evil in the context described above.

As for the turnstile of staff at Mahalo... I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing either. I bet that without planning, groups of staff have naturally come and gone as the product has iterated. If you're in a long iteration right now, that's great news! Maybe this is the one that will "hit". The problem with turnover like this is that eventually, products start to evolve in circles. I think that Mahalo itself is a good example of this.

You're definitely a talented guy. I don't believe in luck.

It would be time well spent for everyone who wants to be successful to take a page out of your book.

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