How to identify toxic people:
When you encounter people who are regularly badmouthing others and constantly surrounded by drama that “isn’t their fault” - you can usually be rest assured that they are the source of the problems in their life.
It’s pretty easy to tell how they operate, though, because as part of their bad mouthing, they are typically reflecting their worst traits onto others. Just listen. Whatever they’re blaming others for is exactly what they themselves have done.
Historically the small tech community has hesitated to call these kind of people out because we don’t want blow back. But many of us know who they are. I think it would help a lot of founders if we collectively made a stand against these people more swiftly.
Sometimes it’s extra hard because these people, at times, appear to add a lot of value. But really it’s like an abusive relationship. As a friend of mine once said, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
