Live data from Hacker News

Fucking Sue Me

pud.com

71–80 of 152 posts

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#71
I agree with the sentiment of this point in general I think. Having counsel read every single contract and letting them wrestle directly with clients is probably a bad idea. Your lawyer will have only your interests in mind (or theirs, who knows?), and it probably won't lead to much productive happening. And even further, taking a few business law classes would be cheaper than using up tons of lawyer hours and probably net a better end result.

Anecdotally, At Arcturo, both myself and one of my principal guys have a good bit of contract reading experience (he much much more than myself). Every time I get a contract, I toss it to him and let him give me a thumbs up/down/comment. Having him around to handle reading things over and nit picking (often times to the point of having their lawyers concede points to us they hadn't addressed or thought of) has been awesome. If you can find someone who has a lot of business operations experience and can also hack code, they'll add a LOT of value to your company.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#72
I took something different from this article, which was that if you wait to do business until you have a sure thing, then you are waiting too long. Take advantage of opportunities, and figure out the details on thew way.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#74
post #52
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to be able to figure out what's negotiable and what isn't. I work for one of those massive organizations that everyone hates doing business with, but sort of has to. I've watched dozens of vendors spin their wheels for months over boilerplate stuff that nobody is empowered to change. They ultimately lose the deal over something that ultimately didn't matter.

It's absolutely true. You have to figure out what terms are changeable and which ones aren't, and you have to know that sometimes you'll be accepting things you really don't want to, which means accepting risks, sometimes serious risks. But having said all that: in almost every contract, there's something crappy that can be changed.

Unless you're renting an apartment in Austin.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#75
Articles like this depress me, because in 1998, I totally knew how to make websites, but didn't know I could make money doing it. Instead I was 18 and doing what I was supposed to do, that is I was busy going to school, and now I'm 31 and still in school not making money. What's wrong with me? Sigh.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#76

> Then there was the time I wanted to hire my first full time employee. I was apprehensive to do it because I only had enough money to pay him for 2 months, unless I got another client fast. > “Worry about that in 2 months,” Dad said. Speaking from the perspective of that employee, fuck you . OK, for the serious point: you may be not give a shit about risk. Good for you, you crazy risk taker! The world truly needs mo…

>> Then there was the time I wanted to hire my first full time employee. I was apprehensive to do it because I only had enough money to pay him for 2 months, unless I got another client fast. >> “Worry about that in 2 months,” Dad said. > Speaking from the perspective of that employee, fuck you.

Yep I agree that does sound a bit irresponsible, though realistically I doubt most employers have more than a few months salaries stashed away in their bank accounts to pay employees.

Better advice from his father would have been to wait till he at least got another client first, then he could justify getting another hire - if just to work on the new client project.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#77
One of my favorite bosses was general counsel for a state government agency. She once told me that "no contract can ensure performance of someone of poor character."

Whenever I'm offered a contract, I boil it down like this: "Do I believe they'll hold up their end of the bargain?" If the answer is no, I do not sign the contract.

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#78

Articles like this depress me, because in 1998, I totally knew how to make websites, but didn't know I could make money doing it. Instead I was 18 and doing what I was supposed to do, that is I was busy going to school, and now I'm 31 and still in school not making money. What's wrong with me? Sigh.

It's still possible to make money building web sites, perhaps more so than ever. If you aren't happy with still being in school, why aren't you putting the pieces in place to start your own web development practice?

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#79

Articles like this depress me, because in 1998, I totally knew how to make websites, but didn't know I could make money doing it. Instead I was 18 and doing what I was supposed to do, that is I was busy going to school, and now I'm 31 and still in school not making money. What's wrong with me? Sigh.

hey, you're not alone :)

I was in the UK in '99 working a string of crappy low paying jobs whilst reading job ads offering £100,000 + car + rent in London for Y2K work. I never applied for any of them because I didn't consider myself worth that much money

Wasn't until years later I found they were taking on pretty much anyone who could turn on a computer. oh well...

Re: Fucking Sue Me

#80

Articles like this depress me, because in 1998, I totally knew how to make websites, but didn't know I could make money doing it. Instead I was 18 and doing what I was supposed to do, that is I was busy going to school, and now I'm 31 and still in school not making money. What's wrong with me? Sigh.

A. Men. I recently lost my job, and am re-learning to program. I annoy myself with the skills I've forgotten, now knowing what I missed out on.
Post reply on HN