Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble

ambition-and-status

• Nine months ago I was unceremoniously dumped from my job at Newsweek. I was terrified I might never work again. Now I'm about to become a marketing guy at one of the hottest tech start-ups.

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• I know guys my age whose careers are over. They're in their early fifties, once held senior-level positions, then got downsized only to discover that no one wants them.

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belonging

• At tech companies like HubSpot, fitting in is not just something that's nice to do—it's essential to your success. It is perhaps the most important thing.

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• Packs of actual adults racing around, whooping and shrieking, posing for selfies. They're all trying really hard to show everyone how much fun they are having. But it's not cool. It's sad.

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self-and-identity

• At HubSpot I'm constantly self-conscious. I feel ancient. I notice one top executive is coloring his hair. I wonder if I should start coloring mine.

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• 'I'm going to call you Grandpa Buzz,' he says. Everyone laughs. Jimmy doesn't know what I did before HubSpot, and even if he did he would not care.

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