Steve Jobs, who built what is now the world's most valuable company, at least in part by being intolerable? Parenthetically, I strongly recommend the recent Iverson biography, it's first rate.

I worked with Steve Jobs, I couldn't stand him, and I eventually refused to work with Apple. I am sure there are many others who came to the same conclusion. But this didn't stop Apple as a company.

offtopic.com which had registration closed for a large amount of time in 2002-2003ish? It was still a massive forum but the community kind-of "solidified" and didn't grow larger, for the most part quality was pretty good.

It seems to me that once critical mass is reached, closing registration is a good move. It works for other quality-oriented social sites like Oink too.

Stackoverflow.