Follow-Up to "YC deadline brings out stupid decisions"
The Accuser seems to be offended because I solicited one of his partners. Allow me to provide some context. I solicited one of his partners by stating that in the event my application was approved and theirs wasn't I would love to have someone like him as a potential partner. I never pressured Hacker X to drop out of his own Y Combinator application. I don't even know what his project is about. Never asked him. Never even touched on the subject. Again, I only said in the event that his application didn't get approved and my team's application were approved (a lofty assumption, I know) I would love to have him potentially join our team because I felt he was someone that values the Y Comb experience a great deal and he would also be an incredible value add to the team. Furthermore, I never expected or asked Hacker X to extend me the same option in return; I will be pursuing my project full-time whether or not it is accepted from YC. (Sounds like a great deal for Hacker X, if you ask me).
As a result of these circumstances, in a post on this forum, the Accuser likens me to the Emperor from Star Wars as he attempts to seduce Anakin Skywalker to the Darkside .
To defend against this negative accusation I have listed below my reasons for soliciting "Hacker X":
1) As mentioned above I was looking for a capable backup co-founder in the event that my original partner(who was on the fence) dropped out of the Y Combinator process even if our application was accepted.
2) Hacker X and I have a mutual friend (not the accuser) who spoke very highly of the "Hacker X" in question.
3) From my recent encounter with him at a local bar, Hacker X seemed like an affable guy and more importantly had a strong entrepreneurial spirit that would have been great for any team.
Now I would like to ask the Accuser, if he would, to enlighten me regarding the following topics:
-How does the fact that I just met Hacker X make the solicitation unethical?
-Why do I need to ask your permission before I solicit Hacker X?
-Is he your property? -Is there a timelimit as to how long one needs to know another person before one can approach them about a business proposition?
-What happened to free will and letting a person make his own decision?
-If I happen to know someone else on your 500+ facebook"friends" list that I want to solicit for my venture do I need to ask your permission as well?
You know, I could understand the accuser being upset if I were a close friend of his and I had solicited one of his friends without asking him about it first; but the fact of the matter is, the accuser and I aren't even close friends (if you couldn't already tell) he happens to be an acquantance I've known from my college days. I think we have spoken twice in the last 3.5 years since graduation.
Now, based purely on the above actions, the Accuser wants to smear my reputation and application with the Y Combinator folks in hopes that they will reject my application . Honestly, it doesn't even surprise me a bit that he would resort to this petty tactic; he was probably the type of kid that ran to mommy whenever he thought the neighborhood kids were excluding him--and mommy probably told the other kids to play nice or else.
In response I encourage the Accuser to go ahead and tell the Y Combinator folks my real name and how I have wronged him, I'm sure doing so will make him look real mature in the eyes of the reviewing board and help out the chances for his own application.
Btw, Mr. Accuser(last question I promise): Could you let me know how how that works for you in the business world someday?
Though I will not apologize for being "unethical", I will apologize to the Accuser for hurting his feelings. And if he wants to we can even hug it out in person as well.
That's all folks as I have a monstrosity of an application I would like to finish.
p.s.
If there are other hackers who are passionate about creating somethings cool and would be interested in "joining me in the Daaarrrkkk Side..." on a promising venture please email me at [email protected]. I will need written consent from former collaborators (or else I may get a barrage of accusations about being "unethical").
(football ... uh, I mean .... "soccer" joke, sorry).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratom#Legal_Status
Actually, despite the drama queening, I upmodded both posts (perhaps thereby obliterating my vote weighting) because they reflect an interesting pattern of hacker psychology that I've been thinking about lately. Once said thoughts are in a bit more of a coherent state I'll make a post about it.
Based on the 1st post, i'm pretty sure that neither of them are
here are reasons why I don't feel either of the posters are hackers:
1) this probably wouldn't be an issue if either of them were b/c they can still do what they feel are the crucial parts of the project and recruit on the side... the 1st post seemed desperate...
2) the "poached" person probably would not have been "poached" if his project was already underway with mutual contributions to the project by everyone in the team. in my experience 1 reason a programmer leaves his team (whether it's right or wrong) is b/c he feels that he's doing all the work
Whats more, the "accuser" is immature in the most troubling way. I could not imagine working with him, least of all as his "hacker".
More seriously, one of the few positive things the business world values is clear, concise communication. Get thee to a copy of Strunk and White, post haste.
Oh no, this won't be met with any blank stares at all.
This isn't high school, it's business, and if you're going to cry every time someone approaches your talent, you don't belong in business. If your hacker leaves you for another position, it's your fault, not the guy who hired him.
Though responding publicly was a bad move.
Oooooooooooooookay.
Fair game is exactly the right phrase, in business offering anyone more money or a better opportunity is always fair game, hell, that is the damn game. Want to keep your talent, then make sure you give them a fair deal and don't begrudge them a better deal than you can offer should it come along.
It's unbelievably arrogant to continually refer to someone as my hacker in such a possessive manner, you may as well be saying my ignorant slave. That hacker is likely much smarter than you are, give him some respect and stop talking about him like property.
No one is ever stolen in an adult relationship, only children think that, adults leave, there's a world of difference.
I don't see how it's more or less moral to make the offer before or after the application. The coder's relationship with his existing team, and that teams product, should be compelling enough for the coder to stick with them.
If it isn't, then it's within his rights to move towards a better opportunity, and within someone else's rights to provide that opportunity.
That said, I think this post should have consisted of a simple, polite statement of caveman82's case. Comments about 'The Accuser' running to his mother are immature and only hurt Caveman82's reputation.