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A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

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Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#81

Post by danso »

gamblor956 wrote: post #76
danso wrote: post #17

Kudos to Tesla for not only being OK with this guy having a sidegig but also not trying to be a jerk in demanding a cut. I know that seems like status quo for companies not to demand control over what employees create outside of work, but seems like that line can be blurred when there's enough money involved. (edit: not just having a sidegig, but being able to launch and run his startup for ~1 year while employed at…

Kudos to Tesla for not only being OK with this guy having a sidegig but also not trying to be a jerk in demanding a cut. No kudos for Tesla. In California, they're not allowed to demand a cut of employees' side income streams if that income is unrelated to Tesla's business. The CA Dept of Labor punishes such things very heavily. (This is why Theranos failed to acquire Kent's patent. In California, the IP assignment c…

FWIW, found this useful thread 2011 HN thread about the topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2208056

Though it's not just about trying to grab rights. Here's a blog post the founder last year, which describes in detail what he was doing from 2016 to June 2017:

https://blog.usejournal.com/how-we-made-1m-in-3-months-the-s...

He sounds like a hard worker and seems to have been at enough places (Facebook and Uber) to know not to mix hobby with work. But it sounds like he really hustled over the year to the point of his startup being a second job. He doesn't say anything more about Tesla, but I guess I'm assuming his startup passion couldn't have been a total secret. And despite his likely well-paid role at Tesla, they seemed to have tolerated his work-life balance to the point that he got to pick the time of quitting.

Yes, I agree that's the way things should be, that companies don't have any influence what you do once you've put in your 40/week. But that doesn't seem to be the status quo in tech, especially at highly ambitious companies like Tesla

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#82

Post by elvirs »

aqme28 wrote: post #79
Retric wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a wide range of thing you can do that reduce or eliminate Hangovers. If he was using Gatorade it would 'work' which IMO is a step beyond the classic snake oil.

Even water "works." Come to think of it, how do you test a hangover cure drink? What is your control?

as a regular drunk and consumer of large quantities of water when drunk and when sober I have to admit Gatorade is so much more effective in preventing hangover headache compared to water, I couldn't believe it myself

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#83

Post by komali2 »

anon808 wrote: post #72
komali2 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's capitalism and that's how capitalism works. I don't like capitalism but I like games, and this guy played the game very well. If we don't like the constraints/rules why are we blaming the people who followed those constraints when establishing their algorithms, especially when culture tells them to do so? Basically, don't hate the player, hate the game. (Also let's go ahead and get post scarcity asap ple…

"don't hate the player, hate the game." Why can't I hate both? That's how values work, I don't value his methods, and I don't value the person that chooses the methods I don't value.

You can hate both. I'm challenging your values. I'm saying they're misdirected.

I also don't like snake oil, but I don't blame agents for acting in a fit manner.

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#84

Post by danso »

gamblor956 wrote: post #78
danso wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? Tesla is seen as a company with ambitious grandiose plans. It's a common Silicon Valley cliché for startups and companies to claim they're changing the world. Tesla is one of the few companies that can legitimately claim an important mission. With all the stories (Tesla or otherwise) about SV companies overworking their employees in the name of holy missions, it's nice to see an example of what looks like an…

I'm still unclear on the concept of giving a company kudos for not doing something the law will punish them for doing. It's the equivalent of saying we should all get kudos for not stealing from each other. You've made the act of stealing the baseline for moral judgment rather than the reprehensible exception.

My full first sentence gave kudos for both being a company that allowed a sidegig and not being a jerk about demanding a cut. Yes, the law protects employees from a company seizing IP outright, or from pressuring them to work longer hours. But there's nothing stopping a company from being hostile -- either not taking the employee's word that he didn't use any company time/resources on his hobby, or pressuring/firing him for not staying late like his co-workers. By his account, he was able to pick a comfortable time to leave:

https://blog.usejournal.com/how-we-made-1m-in-3-months-the-s...

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#86

Post by sincerely »

maxxxxx wrote: post #56
sincerely wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, more realistically, since societally we are ok with companies doing pretty much anything that is within the bounds of the law and this behavior seems to be legal, maybe we should be giving them kudos?

We should not give them kudos but advocate for changing the law and and mark companies that do stuff like this as assholes.

That works too :)

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#87

Post by ericcumbee »

exolymph wrote: post #77
modzu wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hn eats up get rich quick clickbait

Not just HN, either. The audience for business "news" absolutely loves this shit. It's really depressing to work in business journalism (my previous job) and see what gets the most traffic.

try just plain journalism. We will put out in depth articles on important subject and barely get any views. We get a pdf of the Sherriff's office booking reports with mugshots that we convert to a gallery of images. and everyone and their mother looks at them.

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#88

Post by jlgaddis »

sorenjan wrote: post #23

Why are we singing his praises here? He sells a hangover drink, and in order to not have to get FDA approval he calls it a dietary supplement. Chances are this does not work at all, and he's selling something with false promises and no regulation. Are we praising snake oil salesmen for their businesses acumen now? The Tesla connection seems like nothing more than click bait since it's not related, except maybe gave h…

> Why are we singing his praises here?

It seems that on HN -- and in the startup culture, in general -- this is considered a "hack" and is something to be proud of.

Kinda like how Uber skirting around those pesky laws and lawmakers was seen as clever and inspirational.

Re: A Former Tesla Staffer Became an Internet Millionaire in His Spare Time

#90

Post by tapatio »

ericcumbee wrote: post #87
exolymph wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just HN, either. The audience for business "news" absolutely loves this shit. It's really depressing to work in business journalism (my previous job) and see what gets the most traffic.

try just plain journalism. We will put out in depth articles on important subject and barely get any views. We get a pdf of the Sherriff's office booking reports with mugshots that we convert to a gallery of images. and everyone and their mother looks at them.

I enjoy in-depth articles and so do many others. Keep'em up.
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