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The Problem with LMG (www.youtube.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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My personal thoughts

At first it came off a bit whiney, but I watched the entire thing and I'm glad I did. It shows a pattern of carelessness and in some cases complete douchebaggery of LMG.

What they did to Billet Labs is absolutely un-fucking excusable. LMG and Linus, in particular, needs to be mercilessly shamed for that until Billet Labs gets a clear and unequivocal apology and paid restitution for damages. Fucking shameful. What a bunch of pricks.

Video Description

This video is not monetized. This video covers our serious concerns regarding the data accuracy of Linus Media Group, including Linus Tech Tips, ShortCircuit, and TechQuickie, particularly as it relates to rushing content out the door to favor -- by staff's own admission -- quantity over quality. As the company continues to expand into its LTT Labs direction, the importance of accurate data increases; however, even as 'only' entertainment, there are still certain responsibilities to the consumer and the manufacturers to report fairly (and to have defined corrections processes in place). We tried to approach this as objectively as possible and hope that viewers are able to listen to the evidence we present, particularly as it relates to significant and frequent data errors that now present in nearly every technical review video.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I really hope stepping down as CEO leads to Linus surrounding himself with people he trusts to call him out when he's missing something.

He strikes me as the kind of person who is susceptible to a few certain mental traps you kinda don't want to see in a leader of a large influential organization:

Taking an "ends justifies the means" mindset (e.g. stepping on the "growth" gas pedal and accepting sloppiness because it will get better later with Labs)
Letting "objective facts" justify big subjective decisions w/o much consideration (e.g. thinking the Billet Labs video didn't need to be re-shot because the "objectively" product rec conclusion wouldn't have been different)
Substituting actual solutions to problems w/ commitments to solving them (e.g. implementing "Accuracy KPIs" instead of slowing the pace of video releases)

None of these constitute outright malice, IMO, but boy can they lead to a problematic working environment.

I'm sure there will be quite the flame war as a result of this, which I think is a bummer. Linus strikes me as someone who's acting in good faith, but has an unshakable habit of making rushed decisions without considering the full scope of their impact, and is (or has been) lacking the appropriate feedback structure to help him learn to either a) make more thoughtful decisions, or b) fully delegating those decisions to folks who are better equipped to make them.

Here's hoping this leads to positive change.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Linus is surrounded by people who can call him on his bullshit. Luke is very aware of the shit Linus steps in and lets him know. Linus just kinda sucks at publicly admitting it, at least not without getting his own jab in. Hence taking over the "Trust Me Bro" joke.

Linus takes all criticism on LMG as a personal attack regardless of his involvement. Hopefully, once Tarren steps in, he'll be able to wrangle Linus and just let LMG handle the public relations side.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago

This is the main issue I have with Linus. Doubling down on dumb takes.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Linus takes all criticism on LMG as a personal attack regardless of his involvemen

I mean, AFAIK he built that company off the ground - yes likely privileged, I saw a video where it's mentioned he and his partner lived rent free in his dad's house. And yes, likely not alone. But still.

Makes sense he'd see criticisms of the company as attacks that he needs to personally take on. It's not the best approach, but totally understandable. Lots of people's livelihoods at stake by now, too.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I agree. I can already see a slight shift in his attitude since he stepped down, but clearly it's not enough.