Acceptable work attire...

[heppers75]

I know this has been done a few times here but this story on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18032190 I found interesting....

What do my fellow PH'ers think?

[martin84]

Whoever buys the shares in his company is likely to end up quite rich indeed, or even richer than they are now.

The man can wear whatever the fk he wants.

[cqueen]

Shares can go down as well as up. I personally think Facebook is on the slide, most people are over it now, I've deleted my account coz i just got bored of reading other people's rubbish. Quite a few said they're gonna follow suit.

But yeah he can do whatever he wants

[Whoozit]

Put it another way, should he get married in a hoody?

He's asking investors to give him a fk of a lot of money at an extraordinarily high valuation even for an Internet company, and to trust him with it - despite massively challenging revenue targets and no business model to speak of AFAIK. So yeah, if I were him I'd wear a suit to demonstrate I'm taking the IPO a damn sight more seriously than anything else in my life ever.

[martin84]

If Facebook is worth investing in then they'll invest in it. If its not worth investing in then he could turn up in a Saville Row suit and it wouldnt make any difference.

[RYH64E]

Whoozit said:

Put it another way, should he get married in a hoody?

He's asking investors to give him a fk of a lot of money at an extraordinarily high valuation even for an Internet company, and to trust him with it - despite massively challenging revenue targets and no business model to speak of AFAIK. So yeah, if I were him I'd wear a suit to demonstrate I'm taking the IPO a damn sight more seriously than anything else in my life ever.

Why does what he wears affect the viability of the company? I don't see why wearing a suit would make any difference to the business model.

I've got a wardrobe full of suits that don't fit me any more, I've not been any less successful since I decided not to replace them as I outgrew them. I need a wedding suit and a funeral suit, that's it.

[Puggit]

I work for an extremely successful and fast growing startup. I don't wear a tie (ever), but otherwise I do wear suit and shirt.

[Whoozit]

martin84 said:

If Facebook is worth investing in then they'll invest in it. If its not worth investing in then he could turn up in a Saville Row suit and it wouldnt make any difference.

In a world of perfect information, possibly. In the real world that's just not true. I've executed and advised on IPOs for 20 years and management's credibility and persona when they meet with investors is massively important to closing the deal.

If you were buying a second hand Porsche, who would you trust - chav boy in tracksuit and fag accessory from Luton, or a smartly turned out gent in chinos and a polo shirt in Virginia Water?

[Zwolf]

Whoozit said:

management's credibility and persona when they meet with investors is massively important to closing the deal.

Surely wearing whatever he does IS his persona and donning a suit because it fulfils conformist stereotypes/expected norms wouldn't be?

If someone has the knowledge and talent to make themselves personally worth millions and build/successfully run a company worth billions from the ground up and in a short timescale, it doesn't really matter what clothes they happen to be wearing. It hasn't impeded progress to date.

Surely investors look beyond the most superficial things?

Edited by Zwolf on Friday 11th May 21:42

[LordFlathead]

Summed up quite nicely by Toyah

"Don't want to be told what to wear
As long as you're warm who cares
I want to be me
I want to be me
So what if I dye my hair?
I've still got a brain up there
And I'm going to be me
I'm going to be fwee"

It is this freedom to break out from mainstream society's typecast regimes that give inspiration. Steve Jobs was a great example. Break away from the mould and ditch those stupid suits where people believe they are all powerful. Creation comes from within and you do not need a God damned suit to make it.

PS the hoody sucks IMO.

Sorry Toyah that should be free

[loafer123]

I don't mind what he wears, but i wouldn't buy the shares...

[aizvara]

Puggit said:

I work for an extremely successful and fast growing startup. I don't wear a tie (ever), but otherwise I do wear suit and shirt.

Do you attribute the growth and success to the suit and shirt? I've noticed that of the customers and partners I work with and have visited (or have visited the company I work for), the biggest and most successful have staff who do not wear suits, and do not appear to have any dress code.

[Jasandjules]

When you have that much money you can pretty much wear what you like. In his position I rather think he knows full well people will invest to make money no matter what he wears...

[martin84]

Whoozit said:

In a world of perfect information, possibly. In the real world that's just not true. I've executed and advised on IPOs for 20 years and management's credibility and persona when they meet with investors is massively important to closing the deal.

If you were buying a second hand Porsche, who would you trust - chav boy in tracksuit and fag accessory from Luton, or a smartly turned out gent in chinos and a polo shirt in Virginia Water?

Irrelevent. We're not talking about customers pitching up to buy a car. I reckon the people he's going to see already know what Facebook is. The other point is the guys already a billionaire and probably doesnt give a fk what anybody thinks of his clothes. He's still the same bloke he was before he was rich and he's getting stick for it, when people change radically upon receiving money people give them flack as well. Cant win.

Anybody can put a suit on, people who part with cash based on what the other person is wearing deserves to be parted from their money. Bernie Madoff wore a suit...

[sinizter]

If people will still deal with him in a hoody, why should he care ? I'm sure market forces will make sure he will lose the hoody if it is causing any major problem.

As for someone who mentioned whether he should get married in a hoody ... If his partner is OK with it, why the fk not ?

[Zwolf]

aizvara said:

Puggit said:

I work for an extremely successful and fast growing startup. I don't wear a tie (ever), but otherwise I do wear suit and shirt.

Do you attribute the growth and success to the suit and shirt? I've noticed that of the customers and partners I work with and have visited (or have visited the company I work for), the biggest and most successful have staff who do not wear suits, and do not appear to have any dress code.

100 years from now - closer to half that I think, business suits will be regarded as ruffs and codpieces or stockings and powdered wigs were a century after their time. They're a hangover of the 20th Century and not much more.

[Murph7355]

cqueen said:

Shares can go down as well as up. I personally think Facebook is on the slide, most people are over it now, I've deleted my account coz i just got bored of reading other people's rubbish. Quite a few said they're gonna follow suit.

But yeah he can do whatever he wants

Agree (I suspect much of the social media hype will die a death - having yourself exposed all over the internet is not necessarily a good idea).

I guess he's still trying to prove he's young n hip with the hoodie thing. Up to him.

[NerveAgent]

Murph7355 said:

Agree (I suspect much of the social media hype will die a death - having yourself exposed all over the internet is not necessarily a good idea).

I guess he's still trying to prove he's young n hip with the hoodie thing. Up to him.

Maybe he just likes hoodies and isn't bother about the bullst/politics/nonsense that those less successful than him spend their time bickering about?

[Jasandjules]

Well, let's put it this way - if anyone on here has more money than him they can explain to him why his attire is not suitable (pun intended)...........

[NerveAgent]

Zwolf said:

100 years from now - closer to half that I think, business suits will be regarded as ruffs and codpieces or stockings and powdered wigs were a century after their time. They're a hangover of the 20th Century and not much more.

NerveAgent like this.

From my experience of the IT industry, the shirt and tie brigade are dinosaurs and a dying breed. Keep up or move out of the way.