a16z Podcast

a16z Podcast: The Asshole Survival Guide

Michael Dearing, Bob Sutton, and Hanne Winarsky

Posted September 13, 2017

Bob Sutton’s book The No Asshole Rule was all about how to foster company cultures that don’t tolerate asshole behavior. But sometimes, dealing with an asshole is unavoidable — in life or at work. So what are the best tactics to both protect yourself and to stop the asshole behavior? This is the subject that Sutton tackles in his new book, The Asshole Survival Guide. 

In this somewhat NSFW episode, a16z’s Hanne Tidnam talks with Bob Sutton, professor at Stanford; and Michael Dearing, Founder of Harrison Metal and formerly at Stanford and eBay, about tackling asshole behavior — everything from assessing it (are you dealing with an asshole?) to coping mechanisms, to how to systemize a way of squashing and preventing asshole behavior in the workplace. (Bonus: a surprising truth about EQ in the workplace!)