> And besides, who didn’t flex a slide or two to show future numbers how they hoped it will look instead of honest truth. If thats the case then DOJ has to come and knock at door of every Hacker News user, or any IT person in that matter.

Unethical people commonly state their belief that everybody else does as they do. This is self-delusion meant to assuage feelings of guilt.

Hence the proverb (which I understand to exist in numerous languages): A thief thinks every man steals.

This is simply not the case. Adam lied to everyone's face for years. Read the documents and financial statements if you think this is just a little "flex" every couple of slides.

it doesn't surprise me. i worked with him over 20 years ago when he ran hiphopsite.com, he was a shifty guy then.

I don't think every startup CEO is falsifying bank statements to show millions more in income to their own finance department and investors than they actually have.

We simply don't know that. That's what DOJ accuses him of - now we need to wait to hear his side of the story (and his lawyers), unless of course you believe in USA everyone is guilty without being proven of committing said crime?

A court has an obligation to do that, a random person on the internet has no such obligation.

Eventually it will be decided by a handful of random people’s opinions based on the evidence put forth. For

Something of a nitpick, but you can believe one person is guilty pre-trial without thinking everyone is - there simply needs to be enough evidence to pass your own burden of proof (there's no obligation on a person, outside of a jury, to uphold the 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard), or that you believe there is no room for reasonable doubt even at this stage.

A person unconnected to the case commenting online has far less of an impact than a court with the power to impose criminal sanctions, so using a lower standard of proof isn't particularly harmful.

> its so easy to proof he deceived investors because well he doesn’t have any numbers to show

There is a huge difference between saying "we're killing it" while you're hustling, highlighting bookings because your revenues suck, sending invoices early to bring up revenue, on one hand, and forging bank statements. The former move from almost expected to borderline behaviour. The last is simply fraud.

Most people would call that "lying", "unethical", and probably "stupid."

Citation(s) needed

Take your libertarian dreams to international waters. Regulation exists to create opportunity, not destroy it. Unless you have facts to back up your claims, don't spread misinformation.

Their position isn't Libertarian.

I'm a Rand quoting free market extremist, and I'm A-OK with this guy going to jail for fraud. Fraud is, after all, morally equivalent to physical coercion.

On a related note, most people who heap scorn on Rand seem to have missed the fact that many (most?) of the major villains in Atlas Shrugged are corrupt businessmen.

Hang 'em high.