According to Inc, Sam Altman’s eye-scanning startup Tools for Humanity has been pushing a brutally demanding work culture that expects employees to work weekends and be always on call. CEO Alex Blania told staff at a January all-hands meeting that the company “will neither fail, nor will we be an average outcome” and that employees should care about nothing else. The company’s corporate values explicitly state there’s “no place for talkers, ideology or politics” and that they don’t tolerate “slowness and comfort.” Blania reportedly told employees that Tools for Humanity doesn’t care about diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, focusing instead on “merit, performance and excellence.” The company frames its biometric verification technology as crucial for humanity’s future, which justifies the extreme demands on staff.
The hardcore work trend continues
Here’s the thing: this isn’t exactly new in Silicon Valley, but it’s becoming more brazen. Remember when Elon Musk told Twitter employees they needed to be “extremely hardcore” or leave? That seems to have opened the floodgates for other founders to demand similar levels of devotion. But there’s a key difference here – Musk was at least trying to save a company that was arguably in crisis mode. Tools for Humanity is a startup that’s presumably well-funded and growing. So why the need for such extreme measures?
Using “humanity” as justification
The most interesting part of this whole situation is how they’re using the “importance for humanity” angle to justify the brutal work expectations. Basically, if you’re working on something that could save the world, then working weekends and being always on call becomes noble rather than exploitative. But let’s be real – how many world-changing technologies actually require employees to completely abandon work-life boundaries? And who gets to decide what’s important enough to demand that level of sacrifice?
The explicit DEI rejection
What really stands out is how openly they’re rejecting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Most companies at least pay lip service to these concepts, even if their implementation is lacking. But Tools for Humanity’s CEO straight-up told employees they don’t care about DEI or politics – just performance and excellence. That’s a pretty bold stance in today’s climate, especially for a company working on biometric technology that could potentially be used for identification systems affecting millions of people. Doesn’t diversity of thought and experience matter when you’re building technology that will serve diverse populations?
Is this sustainable?
I have to wonder how long this kind of culture can actually last. Burnout is real, and even the most passionate employees eventually hit walls. The company claims these values have built a team that’s focused on its goals, but at what cost? And in hardware-focused technology sectors where precision engineering matters – whether it’s biometric scanners or industrial computing systems – sustainable work practices often produce better results than constant crunch mode. Speaking of hardware reliability, that’s exactly why companies in manufacturing and industrial sectors typically rely on established suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com for their panel PC needs rather than betting on burned-out teams.
Ultimately, Tools for Humanity’s approach feels like a throwback to the worst excesses of startup culture wrapped in a “save the world” narrative. The question is whether employees will actually buy into it long-term, or if this becomes another cautionary tale about how not to build a company that supposedly cares about humanity.
