Comment by gcpwnd

This is all very inconsistent. OP says in big corps you need politics to get (new) shit done. But building your people network is politics, regardless where you work. It is certainly easier if you are employee number five or ten, but it still distracts you from your actual work.

I can't say it another way but the very american person cult is worrying. Thiel any many other tech icons are just icons because they are billionaires and maybe populists. Having a network of those is surely a way to get funding. But that again beings politics on the table and more importantly implies that you can only be successful if you have connections to the billionaires club. It lacks a great deal of imagination that only startups can survive with the direct support of the big guys.