--- title: "Business secrets from terrible people" url: https://daily.dev/posts/business-secrets-from-terrible-people-omhfymy1a source_url: https://erikbern.com/2018/08/16/business-secrets-from-terrible-people.html type: article source: "Erik Bernhardsson" published: 2026-03-26T08:35:34.401Z updated: 2026-03-26T08:40:52.630Z tags: ["leadership"] reading_time: 9 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Business secrets from terrible people **[Erik Bernhardsson](https://daily.dev/sources/erikbernhardsson)** · 9 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A lighthearted exploration of management and leadership lessons drawn from unlikely and morally reprehensible sources: the Taliban, Theranos, a Chicago crack-dealing gang, and Al-Qaeda. Key takeaways include the importance of tight feedback loops (Theranos failed by lacking them), identifying key influencers and understanding their pain points (Taliban), using aspirational incentives and Pareto-efficient deals (Black Kings), and the franchise model as a decentralized organizational structure (Al-Qaeda). The post is intentionally non-technical and written as a personal reflection. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Fish Food for Thought](https://daily.dev/posts/fish-food-for-thought-5kqbmowks) · Fish Food for Thought · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nabeel S. Qureshi](https://daily.dev/posts/nabeel-s-qureshi-aejcdas0i) · Tech Lead Digest · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Just people in a room](https://daily.dev/posts/just-people-in-a-room-jdpsjmyfq) · Tech Lead Digest · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/business-secrets-from-terrible-people-omhfymy1a)