I disagree. There are those people out there, and some of them are successful, but I dont believe that being a jerk makes you successful, and while I dont have any hard data on this, I do know a number of highly successful business owners who are also decent human beings.<p>It turns out, if your model makes sense, you are selling things to people that they want, and they like you for it. There is no need to be ruthless in these types of scenarios, just effective. Look at Zappos.<p>It may be true that 'Jerks' get ahead many times because they are willing to cut throats to do so, but that doesnt mean that you need to be a jerk to succeed, especially if you learn to define success a little differently.