“Weird Paranoia” at Valve, Says Former Employee

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I don't know about you, but this sounds like almost every job on the planet. High school carries over into college, then into the workforce, then your social life...and then you die (hopefully it ends there). ;)

Valve is an iconic game company. It has a unique corporate structure. One former employee, however, said it "felt a lot like high school", complete with popular kids, troublemakers, and everyone in between. Then, there's the alleged "weird paranoia".
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Sounds like the idealized flat hierarchy lets people run amok, and can lead to unusual circumstances for dismissal. But it also sounds like sour grapes from Miss Ellsworth.
 
This was her first job really working for other people, right? Yea, welcome to real life.
 
I can't imagine what good steam's own hardware survey is doing for Gabe's mental health. The cognitive dissonance between a falling Linux share on steam (1.56% in May, down to 1.07% in June) vs the "failing*"/"closed" Windows 8 (now closing in on the #2 spot). I think it's just a matter of time before the Linux powered "SteamBox" is cancelled.

* MS's app store certainly is failing. :D
 
She appears to have done nothing since departing Valve other than talk about her departure from Valve. It's very nearly a weekly occurance now for there to be some interview she's doing about her termination.

I'm not buying into the idea that she was "backstabbed" by Valve's "old-timers". I would, however, buy into the idea that she ruffled far too many feathers there.
 
wonderfield said:
She appears to have done nothing since departing Valve other than talk about her departure from Valve. It's very nearly a weekly occurance now for there to be some interview she's doing about her termination.

I'm not buying into the idea that she was "backstabbed" by Valve's "old-timers". I would, however, buy into the idea that she ruffled far too many feathers there.
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She admits to being abrasive and obviously has a bit of an ego problem. She actually thought she would be treated like she was her own boss and had the ability to do things her way.

A tip to anyone seeking employment: do not go in to a job acting like you're a wunderkind. Prove it on the job first.
 
I see where this person is coming from. She was expecting a professional work place and instead ended up working with "adults" who didn't fully act the way they should've. I've worked in a few places like this, but the majority of jobs in my life has always been professional. Any nonsense was done off the clock. But then again this person is working in the GAMING industry, those people never grew up.
 
Somehow working for a gaming company & having fun on the job got lost in translation with her? :confused:
 
Paranoia sounds about right. They have a few people working on Steambox, Steampipe, and Steam for Linux. None of which, to me, seem like they would take an entire team. Otherwise, Valve has been completely unproductive for the past few years.
 
I agree, sounds like anyplace you could ever work. If I used that exact description talking to my coworkers they would probably figure I was talking about here!
 
bigdogchris said:
Paranoia sounds about right. They have a few people working on Steambox, Steampipe, and Steam for Linux. None of which, to me, seem like they would take an entire team. Otherwise, Valve has been completely unproductive for the past few years.
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You actually think the Half Life series was fiction? BWAHAHAHAHA.

It is a documentary of what was/is going on at Valve. :eek:
 
Sounds like typical narcissistic bullshit to me. WAAAH I got fired and people do shit at work I don't like. Welcome to reality.
 
Has anyone considered the possibility that Jeri Ellsworth was an incompetent employee?
 
I usually don't like to make assumptions, and I'm sure the problems here are probably two sided, but Jeri probably did this to her self. Being someone that was already kinda well known in the tech world I can TOTALLY see her rolling into Valve thinking her shit didn't stink and that she'd be her own boss.

Well, she wasn't. And he shit does stink just like everyone else's.

Although I do have to say that what she said is probably mostly true. With a company as large as Valve you will definitely have your favorites, trouble makers, etc. This is true in most if not all work environments. There are always those that are favored over others or picked on more. So I don't doubt that Valve would probably be a pretty tough place to work at in that regard. Still doesn't change the fact that she probably fucked up.
 
Kuraudo said:
Has anyone considered the possibility that Jeri Ellsworth was an incompetent employee?
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The 5 seconds it takes to google her and glance at her wiki would say otherwise. From a completely superficial viewpoint; she looks to be an independent type, a rebel and probably had a culture shock to find that there were other people (heck maybe even other women) that were as intelligent as her in the workplace. She probably got a bit too cocky or a bit too abrasive with a certain project's direction, and that was the beginning of the end.

As far as the workplace being high school, yep, that's everywhere.
 
Kuraudo said:
Has anyone considered the possibility that Jeri Ellsworth was an incompetent employee?
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no

JoeUser said:
Jeri probably did this to her self. Being someone that was already kinda well known in the tech world I can TOTALLY see her rolling into Valve thinking her shit didn't stink and that she'd be her own boss.

Well, she wasn't.

This is true in most if not all work environments.
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at Valve she would have been her own boss...in so far as a flat structure has "bosses"


and I'm not sure what kinds of shitty environments some of you have worked within but it's certainly not been my experience. if you find yourself working around immature pricks my advice is to seek another place to work asap because that's not the norm
 
I went on a tour of valve a few weeks ago. While I was there, I didn't feel a sense of weird paranoia. It looked like a regular work place where people, ya know, work. :confused:
 
Valve couldn't of been that bad of a place to work. She complained, she ruffled feathers, etc (she said so herself) and yet she was still allowed to take the work she developed under Valve's dollar with her when she quit.

Most complains when you go, the work you did STAYS. She is obviously an ungreatful twat of a person who was probably an ungreatful twat of a person when she worked there.
 
Company makes promises and then doesn't keep them...good to know they can still let you go without talking to you and possibly help you work out those frustrations/issues...if your not a yes man your out...sounds like every other company I know.
 
pxc said:
* MS's app store certainly is failing. :D
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If you believe 100,000 apps made by kids in India and China are riding the Metro store to glory, I"ve got news... There are zero apps in the metro store worth a damn, sorry.
 
pcjunkie said:
Company makes promises and then doesn't keep them...good to know they can still let you go without talking to you and possibly help you work out those frustrations/issues...if your not a yes man your out...sounds like every other company I know.
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Gabe Newel himself had meetings with her and personally fired her. She simply was far too entitled.
 
Former employee bad mouthing a former employer, never heard that before... Publicly to boot, nice...

/sarcasm off
 
But... but... the game industry needs more females!
 
mope54 said:
and I'm not sure what kinds of shitty environments some of you have worked within but it's certainly not been my experience. if you find yourself working around immature pricks my advice is to seek another place to work asap because that's not the norm
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games and sports industry are full of big-kids from Neverlands
 
Popular people and trouble makers in a group? No fucking way. Just like high school, or any place with more than 2 people.

No real details, and "I probably was abrasive" is probably a nice way of saying she was a bitch and got the boot. People who refer to employee handbooks as a defense against getting fired have weird personality disorders, regular people sort of realize when they're pissing everyone off, no handbook required.
 
Yakk said:
Former employee bad mouthing a former employer, never heard that before... Publicly to boot, nice...

/sarcasm off
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That kind of tells you right there about how much she knows how to get along in the work world. No one with a brain would hire her now because nobody would want her to leave and bad mouth them later. Unless its something justifiably litigious, civil or criminal, you keep your mouth shut unless you think you don't need another job.
 
ColdSun said:
Valve couldn't of been that bad of a place to work. She complained, she ruffled feathers, etc (she said so herself) and yet she was still allowed to take the work she developed under Valve's dollar with her when she quit.

Most complains when you go, the work you did STAYS. She is obviously an ungreatful twat of a person who was probably an ungreatful twat of a person when she worked there.
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jpm100 said:
That kind of tells you right there about how much she knows how to get along in the work world. No one with a brain would hire her now because nobody would want her to leave and bad mouth them later. Unless its something justifiably litigious, civil or criminal, you keep your mouth shut unless you think you don't need another job.
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I think these are strong points, and illustrate her mindset/character somewhat (At least she's leveraging the situation for all it's worth, pushing her name out there. Wonder if that's reminiscent of her presence while working at Valve.)
 
This is the same nut who dropped out of college because of "cultural differences," claiming professors didn't like their statements challenged.
 
Valve Employees : ~400
Jeri Ellsworth: "We were understaffed by about a factor of 100"

Dear Jeri, you walk in the software company of 400 people, and you expect Valve to get 100-200 hardware specialists for your project ? Reality check failed ?
 
Steve said:
I don't know about you, but this sounds like almost every job on the planet.
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No it doesn't.
Every time I read about people who bitch about how terrible the culture at their workplace is/was I feel truly lucky that I work at a place I really like going to, with people I really like working with, working on stuff I really like to work on, which is probably while I am still there going on 15 years.

My advice; don't like the work environment? Find a different place of employment.
 
Thuleman said:
No it doesn't.
Every time I read about people who bitch about how terrible the culture at their workplace is/was I feel truly lucky that I work at a place I really like going to, with people I really like working with, working on stuff I really like to work on, which is probably while I am still there going on 15 years.

My advice; don't like the work environment? Find a different place of employment.
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It's all subjective. If you're an entrepreneur used to doing things your own way 100% of the time, you may have a vastly different opnion about how a workplace is run than those that are used to working for a company.

Valve employees are typically more happy with their job than most people I talk to.
 
pxc said:
Sounds like the idealized flat hierarchy lets people run amok, and can lead to unusual circumstances for dismissal. But it also sounds like sour grapes from Miss Ellsworth.
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It has it's pitfalls. I know. I interviewed there last year and definitely got the impression that no matter what if no one during the interview process liked you, the interview was over. The clique culture is alive and well regardless of corporate structure.
 
Kuraudo said:
Has anyone considered the possibility that Jeri Ellsworth was an incompetent employee?
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I don't think she was incompetent, but she was definitely uppity. I believe when I interviewed with her and another guy, she was the one that pulled the plug on the interview and killed my chances to work there. It was going very very well up to that point.
 
bigdogchris said:
Paranoia sounds about right. They have a few people working on Steambox, Steampipe, and Steam for Linux. None of which, to me, seem like they would take an entire team. Otherwise, Valve has been completely unproductive for the past few years.
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Unproductive? I assume the massive fucking cash cow that is DOTA2 isn't ringing any bells to you right now.
 
jpm100 said:
That kind of tells you right there about how much she knows how to get along in the work world. No one with a brain would hire her now because nobody would want her to leave and bad mouth them later. Unless its something justifiably litigious, civil or criminal, you keep your mouth shut unless you think you don't need another job.
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Yeah, that combined with this quote "I was fired for being abrasive," she said. "And I probably was." pretty much sums it up. Bad personality fit was hired for a program that was questionable, then tried to hire people she got along with and thus probably also didn't mesh well.
 
Man more of this person whining? I can see why they got fired in the first place.
 
Yup everyone knows the employees at Valve walk on water. All hail The Great Gaben!

She couldn't possibly be somewhat right could she, cuz we know HL3 is just around the corner...er, wait a sec...nm.
 
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