Loyalty is a concept of the past in this day and age
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati and Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, both veterans at the AI company, are leaving. Meanwhile, OpenAI will soon let go of its nonprofit nature and CEO Sam Altman will get equity — as reported by Reuters.
Murati made a recent appearance on behalf of OpenAI when it introduced the new, voice-driven, GPT-4o, among other things. That appears to be the final chord of a six-and-a-half-year track record. McGrew worked at OpenAI for nearly eight years, as a researcher, VP of Research and one month as Chief Research Officer.
Murati sent the ominous tweet “OpenAI is nothing without its people” out into the world late last year.
Companies are nothing without their people
How very accurate. Companies are absolutely nothing without the people that built them. Fuck all. NOTHING. Often leaders, executives, boards “forget” this fact with their incessant focus on greasing up to investors, VC firms, shareholders and showcasing the company is growing and its key metrics are improving as planned to scrounge more coin.
The growth trap
Growth being a metric many companies seeking large capital investment raises frothed over before/during the COVID pandemic and faced the consequences with the subsequent global economic consequences. Many companies disintegrated or disappeared while others laid off hundreds or thousands of employees (and in cases even more) in Australia and across the globe, often early employees who had remained loyal for years, decades (and in cases even longer). The tales are countless.
Now a key metric many companies are focused on is profitability, regardless of the repercussions. Profit comes first — gotta keep those investors and shareholders happy and make that bread yo. Health (emotional, mental and physical) comes last — if there are a few victims along the journey, it’s for the good of the corporation…
The human cost
The amount of material discussing mental illness and suicide within startups is vast:
- The Suicidal Founder — “Dreams can come true, but at what cost?”
- Why Rates of Suicide And Depression Are So High For Entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneurs And Suicide Risk: A New Perspective On Entrapment Provides Hope
- Suicide prevention steps for startup founders & entrepreneurs
- The death of a young New Zealand startup founder makes me wonder if it’s really safe for entrepreneurs to fail