Linus Media Group CEO Terren Tong also responded via email, saying he was “shocked at the allegations and the company described” in Reeve’s posts. He went on to note that “as part of this process, beyond an internal review we will also be hiring an outside investigator to look into the allegations and will commit to publish the findings and implementing any corrective actions that may arise because of this.”
Wow quick and decisive action by CEO to call in external investigation. Reading Linus’ response, it doesn’t even appear that he would consider external investigation. He states that HR would conduct a thorough review. I’ll be frank, I don’t trust Colton to run the HR review.
I bet once this issue is resolved, we might see Terren bring in external subject matter experts to completely overhaul LMG business operations. HR consultants, Operations and Logistics consultants, Finance, etc. Up until now, LMG was/is run by a self-taught/self-made/learning-on-the-job crew. Can’t do that when you’re now a corp.
Edit: I would love to sub to a channel called TBT (Terren Business Tips) 😂
It is HIGHLY silly to even imply these woes are from a, “learn-on-the-job” crew/etc.
Many of the allegations are about basic factual information being wrong and a terrible work environment.
Those DO NOT naturally show up in any ol’ little work environment. They show up when there’s a lack of professionalism and basic respect for fellow humans.
That culture comes from a lack of process and experience of large organizations. The second that a team grows beyond 7 people it has grown beyond the direct control of any one person and the culture takes on a life of it’s own. If not addressed early in growth, issues typically spiral and are either not caught or are allowed to exist out of a perceived necessity.
Small organizations are nimble so they do not need to formalize cultural and HR processes in the same way that large organizations do. If the leader sees something they don’t like, they address it. It isn’t just about basic respect. We all bring our own cultural issues to an organization. A lack of professionalism comes hand in hand with smaller creative organizations. That’s what makes them entertaining. It also enables the toxic tendencies of some people as they are allowed to slip in and as the pressure builds. Don’t confuse professionalism with respect.
These things don’t happen immediately either. It happens over time as people get tired and impatient so they are not on their best behavior. We all go through a storming process. That’s when toxic culture can set in if good lower level leadership doesn’t catch and address it. That takes training and a formal approach to organizational structure, not just production processes.
I am one of those outside consultants.
Toxic environments can also be brought in by toxic leadership. Like a VP that intentionally pissed workers off because “they work harder”
Well said. I’m not sure I believe this former employee either. I read the “reasons they left,” and it’s simply too unbelievable. It sounds like more of a personal cry for help than a legitimate accusation. The more I read, the more buzzwords for media I saw. And every community is reacting as those buzzwords intend.
I’ve seen the exact same thing on a company that went from 5 to 50 employees in a similarly short time frame.
The issue happens if you start with a friend group without decent structures or leadership “because we are friends/anyway”. This works if you got 5 people but it doesn’t if you have 50 or 150. Because you don’t just have friends who are enthusiastic about the mission there, but you have to fill the ranks with people who actually want to treat this like a job. Now the “bro” culture starts to fall apart.
With this size you start to get real issues at work that need to be handled with a correct structure, which you don’t have because senior management still feels this is just a startup full of bros.
Bros don’t mind working 60 or even 80h/week, every week, because of the mission. Employees do mind. So now you have a workload designed for 60h/week per employee that is shouldered by a 40h/week employee. So either they work 60h (probably without compensation for the overtime) or they cut corners and deliver crap quality.
Same with the way people interact with each other. Bros don’t mind some rough jokes, but employees usually don’t like it that much if their real concerns get brushed aside with the suggestion to maybe “calm your tits”.
When going from startup to real company, you need to make big changes to the structure and work culture. If you don’t, an LMG ensues.
I’m still not a fan of speaking as if these are small business problems. They ARE NOT “small business” problems. It is a problem of failed management, full stop, regardless of how common or explanable it is.
Yea, startups and groups of “bros” are highly likely to mess things up in this way, but again… It’s a basic lack of professionalism and respect for others. That shouldn’t be accepted as “bro culture”. It’s being an immature twat.
Also, and this is key, Linus comes from the boom PC hardware market of the late 90s and early to mid 2000s. He learned at the feet of amoral cowboys in an industry that was peaking right before critical mass. He has only seen bad behaviour rewarded and bad actors escaping consequences. And he grew a brand based on being an irresponsible kid who would say literally anything to get views. As authentic as he may seem remember what he learned and how he learned and most importantly who from. His CEO is one of those amoral cowboys.
This reminds me of sexual misconduct allegations in the electronic music scene. When EDM blew up it elevated a bunch of basement dwelling computer nerds to rock star status. Musicians like Datsik and Bassnectar let that status go to their heads and immediately abused it.
Of course, there are many “learn-on-the-job” organizations that have gone forward and done amazing things.
However, while I agree that these issues don’t naturally manifest themselves and stem from unprofessionalism and basic respect, I would argue that specialists and professionals in those functions (HR, Finance, Ops, etc) can help establish policies that mitigates and discourages such behaviors. If people can’t do that voluntarily, then policies and consequences are enacted to enforce it.
This is why many companies (and I’ve worked in a few in the tens/hundred thousands of employees) have clear business conduct guideline policies and enforcement, because people who lack professionalism and basic respect for fellow humans are actually quite prevalent in any and every company. I’ve witnessed a few myself that led to immediate termination of my colleagues.
Oh I agree in that all those things help. I just want to push back against the idea that this is expected in a small business. It should not be.
This only happens when unqualified people become the boss of too many others. Regardless of the sequence of events, unqualified people are in charge of far, far too many businesses.
Not to say Colton can’t do the job, but HR is a department that needs to be independent of all other departments and the voice of the HR manager needs to be considered more important than the voice of most of the other managers because they’re the ones dealing with the humans that make the company.
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You know that a cultural and organizational happy medium somewhere between LMG’s YOLO approach and IBM exists, right? It’s not a binary XOR.
From what I can tell, LMG has, for some time, run HR through an outside firm (in the leaked meeting audio, he mentions this firm multiple times), so he’s probably referring to them rather than Colton.
Yeah I’ve recently come across the same understanding… In my management career I’ve never worked with a third party HR, so I don’t know how effective that model is.
Up until now, LMG was/is run by a self-taught/self-made/learning-on-the-job crew. Can’t do that when you’re now a corp.
Linus hired an experienced CEO who, I’m sure started these kind of discussions of creating a cohesive work environment several months ago.
Realisticly he was brought in last month so he wouldn’t have had time to properly analyse the corporate side of the company. Right now this is the best time or a fresh face on the top who could create change from the top down where these kind of discussions now has real weight behind them.
I think the best way to discourage misogyny is to suspend Linus who would be looked at as the source of it for 30 days and demote Colton who failed in his duties to protect every employee at LMG. Get someone outside LMG to manage Human Resources. Maybe one day that trust might return.
Correction to my original comment: up until 7 weeks ago…
But while I’m sure discussions have been started, having been exposed to new leadership in my experience, it does take a while before new leadership can really roll out required changes. Most of the time spent in the first 30-60 days is to listen and understand the lay of the land (which Terren also mentioned). But even then, grave issues like the ones Madison called out usually won’t be known to new leadership until later, unless a report/exposure is made (like what Madison did).
Most of the time spent in the first 30-60 days is to listen and understand the lay of the land
I heard the smart thing is to walk in the front door, “let that sink in”, and then immediately burn everything you just inherited to the ground 😅
I’ll be frank, I don’t trust Colton to run the HR review.
Exactly lol, he seems like the type of dude who closes ranks and thereby perpetuates the culture of misogyny.
Also, and this might just be negative halo effect, but he just gives off really weird vibes to me - but that’s verging into needlessly speculative territory.
Oh yeah, let’s jump to thinking people are creeps because of the way they look.
You’re clearly coming at this from a mature and well thought out area, not one of sexism and abuse.
It’s the other way around; I think the vibe is weird when I see him in videos and I feel like he is weird in interpersonal interactions. He seems pretty awkward and not the best at expressing himself. But at the same time I can admit that my judgement might be unfairly influenced by his looks.
I don’t think he’s weird because of how he looks, but at the same time I need to acknowledge that there’s a chance his looks do affect my impression of him and how he interacts.
he seems like the type of dude who closes ranks and thereby perpetuates the culture of misogyny.
Perfect for HR then!
This is exactly the reason corporations that are serious have external anonymous reporting channels. Because now there’s a paper trail from your third party, that’s undeniable, so you have to investigate. The process has to be triggered, and if the good old boy network decides to do nothing, there is now an auditable external paper trail that this was reported.
The reason this is a good indicator for an organization is it forces them maybe not to be transparent but to be accountable
The key here is external. HR workers often have an incentive to quiet down such cases.
HR protects the company, not the employee. That’s just a fact. When company culture is great, that can be fine, but when it’s bad, it absolutely sucks. When there’s a culture of misogyny and sexual harassment, HR helps to cover it up to “protect” the company, and it’s awful to see.
All jokes aside, if these allegations are validated by an external source, heads have to roll. A slap on the wrist is disheartening to everyone who may have been belittled and goes further to discourage interest and diversity in tech.
I have worked in IT R&D for a decade, and this is something I have had to address multiple times with my team. Everything from sexually charged comments to just general patronizing. The key is that you can’t let something slip through or that’s the new standard. You have to address it quickly, in the moment, and be decisive about what is acceptable and what is not.
The process has to be triggered, and if the good old boy network decides to do nothing, there is now an auditable external paper trail that this was reported.
This is why I actually like the new CEO’s response, especially since he’s on the “good ol’ boy network”. Let’s rope in a third party that’s impartial. I’m glad he’s not just going the “we investigated ourselves and didn’t find ourselves at fault” route. Let’s hope the report does come out and does make sense for the situation. But there is always the risk of the third party not finding anything because LMG is paying them. I hope whoever they use has a good track record and the reports that come are clear (and most importantly that actual actions are taken to right the wrongs found/identified). That’s the problem with implementing stuff reactionarily, you never really know. But considering the CEO stepped in… what? 7 weeks ago? This is a really good step for him. There might be hope for LMG… but only if Linus stops with the petty shit and stops driving everything into the ground.
If it takes an extra 500$ to test something properly… he should do it. He should know this innately because he’s spend hundreds of thousands on “The Labs”, but this mentality still shows when he talks candidly on WAN show and other spots. Makes it hard to believe him and his responses contradicting Madison’s story when we see this type of mentality elsewhere.
I don’t think the external investigator will find anything that will satisfy the public. It’s just been too long.
Linus is suffering from the classic " what got you here won’t get you there " problem. And there’s going to be an adjustment as the new CEO puts in practices and standards that have been eschewed for a long time.
But this is just part of being human, that’s why in science things need to be reproducible, so that we can hopefully isolate the ego variable across multiple people.
The root is that the company is entirely managed by Linus and the friends he made way back when. They simply grew tremendously and assigned every friend one of the management roles. That’s it, that’s the company.
This sounds a lot like the bro culture at Uber before they cleared house.
This situation is awfull and, i mean, i know sexual harasement is very serious and its really insensitive to joke about but i really cant help it, so if you are sensible to that type of comments then dont read it and feel free to downvote, ill understeand, so here i go, you have been warned:
Linus sex tips.
Thanks. Though you don’t need to tell oversensitive people to not be offended as they’ll be offended anyways.
This is the best response the CEO has, well done for doing it so quickly.
And I think it’s the worst outcome for the ex-employee. Just from a process perspective now these external investigators are going to dig through the entire history, to prove or disprove every claim, which could bring up a lot of traumatic incidents, or reveal personal information that people like to keep private. Even if people get fired for their behavior based on this incident report, it’s going to be traumatic to relive.
The fact that two years have lapsed since the incident isn’t going to make the investigation easier. So in all probability there will be insufficient data to make a determination either way. So the investigation is going to be both traumatic, and probably hollow because a determination won’t be made. And the published report will feel a little empty and almost gaslighting. But that’s what time does, time is like water, it erodes everything.
She’s not an employee and this isn’t a government investigation. She can deny to assist and should if it negatively affects her.
All that said, very happy with this quick, decisive action. This is far more serious to me than all the other shit in the past week. I’m glad they’re addressing the other issues BUT this what would truly kill my desire to watch LMG content. I feel heartbroken for dad who lost everything but unless LMG called for harassment then that’s on the disgusting people that harassed them.
Assuming I will continue watching LTT after this whole fiasco, I just hope James, Riley, Dan, Plouffe, Alex and Jake (of the top of my head. I usually like most of the hosts) are not responsible for the potential allegations and are just the nice tech bros they are presented as. If some of them are, oof :(
Given how the company grew from the talent and the nature of the complaints it’s likely one or more of those telegenic hosts committed, approved of or covered up those acts.
There just isn’t a huge structure independent of the talent on screen.
TBH… I have a feeling some of who you named are part of who she is calling out.
iirc James would have technically been her boss during her time there.
You either die a hero or you live to sexually harass your subordinates.
It’s a play on the Dark Knight quote.
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to become a villain”