Fisher delivered this bluntly practical advice as someone who could genuinely claim never to have been party to a lawsuit in his entire technology career — a remarkable achievement in Silicon Valley, where litigation is practically a business model. The advice cut against the grain of the 'move fast and break things' ethos that dominated tech culture. The phrase 'step on anyone's neck' was deliberately visceral, evoking the physical reality of what corporate ruthlessness actually means in human terms. Fisher's alternative wasn't naivety but pragmatism: you don't need to destroy people to succeed, and the psychological cost of doing so — the sleepless nights, the constant vigilance against retaliation — isn't worth any business advantage. This connected to his broader philosophy of building 'smaller companies that great companies buy' rather than trying to build empires. Less capital, less risk, less personal toll — and ultimately, better sleep.