Tech investor Boris Wertz remembers when the work environment at a startup he co-founded started to sour.
"It very quickly turned out that one of our founders was an extremely negative, aggressive, divisive, political person," he said. "And it just took really all the fun out of working if you have somebody who takes every opportunity to be political and negative and divisive."
Wertz said the situation was exacerbated by the intensity of a startup's needs.
"Being founders, you fight for survival of your startup, so you're working night and day. It's not somebody you just walk away from and say, 'Who cares about this stupid remark here or there?' Your life is the startup, your life is working with that founder team and it's something that affects you in a big way."
Wertz said that, ever since, he's used extreme caution in hiring or picking partners.
"Life is too short to work with people that have the wrong values and don't really want to play fair."
Wertz said he's also learned the necessity of firing employees who poison a workplace – even when they're top performers.
"If it's an outstanding individual contributor you hesitate, because you think they bring so much to the team in terms of challenge, and you try to neglect the negative signs that their behaviour is having on the mood."
But Wertz added that while it's hard to see talent go, it's worse to keep someone who's wrecking a workplace for everyone else. "If you care about culture, if you care about certain values, you cannot accept any behaviour that goes against it," he said. "It doesn't matter how helpful this person is as a contributor and how valuable he is in his talents."
