This Material Drop 05, "Managing Up" felt very real. I just finished reading it now
The part that stuck with me the most is the idea that sometimes your job as a CM or contributor isn’t just supporting the founder, it’s also protecting the community from them. I’ve seen situations where founders say things that hurt the community, and the people around them stay quiet because they’re scared to push back. This drop made me realize that staying silent isn’t always loyalty. Sometimes it’s just fear.
I liked the framing trick they mentioned, instead of telling the founder “you’re wrong,” you frame it around how it looks to the community or how it might make believers feel. That small shift in language actually makes it easier to speak up without it turning into a fight.
Another thing that hit me is the difference between anger and tiredness. When you’re still angry at a founder, it means you still believe they can change. When you start feeling tired instead, it means you’ve quietly adjusted your expectations. I think I’ve been in that anger stage with a few projects before. This drop made me think about whether I should start moving toward the “tired but still professional” version instead of staying emotionally invested in changing someone who probably won’t.
Overall, this one felt like one of the most practical drops so far. It’s not just theory, it’s the kind of thing you actually deal with when you’re deep in a project.