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Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

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291–300 of 378 posts

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#291

When I announced the launch of 70 Million Jobs on HN back in 2017, it proved to be one of the most widely read and discussed posts ever on the site. I was totally blown away. Once again, I am struck by the incredibly sensitive and supportive tenor of the reactions to my news here. For some context, besides having a criminal record, I was/am a solo founder who somehow talked his way into Y Comb. Perhaps most surprisin…

This sounds awesome, I want to do something similar, only with housing for people with bad credit, or records, or anything really that makes keeping housing rough. My grand idea is creating an intentional community with some glamping areas for cashflow, a community garden, shared tools and worker space with 3d printers, recreational vehicles, brooms, rakes, etc...things you really don't need to 'own', and cut back on…

I love the idea, living in Europe I had the opportunity to squat in my younger years and the fun of living with others while having the opportunity to transform the house we lived in was extremely empowering... have you ever heard of Hundertwasser , his houses seem similarly exciting ...https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser

Ic.org is a good place to visit to see what exists and you could emulate, it was started from a community called Twin Oaks that has quite a radical approach :-) I learnt about it from a book called "Is it Utopia yet" picked up in of all places Nuremberg... honestly agricultural land is cheap (2k a hectare) in non productive places and vegetable gardening or just plain planting stuff for lols like from "plants from a future" (pfaf.org) interspersed with a couple of weed plants should cover expenses... strawbale housing, adobe or trailer parks are much cheaper options at least initially... Gas made from compost, shit or wood chippings is a great alternative... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost_heater

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am on a 6 week paid sabbatical right now Here in Europe we call that vacation.

Well, I have enough vacation saved up that I could take 2 and a half months of vacation. That, plus my sabbatical, plus the 10 days of holidays we are given a year, plus the week off we get each summer means I could take nearly 5 months of vacation. On top of that, we get every Friday off as a paid day between Memorial Day and Labor Day (June-August).

> On top of that, we get every Friday off as a paid day between Memorial Day and Labor Day (June-August).

That's pretty neat and not common here.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fuck offffff seriously. The hardships aren't self-imposed, our justice system is specifically and intentionally retributive , imposing punishment for its own sake rather than imposing consequences with the goal of rehabilitation. And we're talking here of additional ad-hoc social punishments beyond the terms of the sentence that make finding a job harder. The level of personal discipline it takes to get released and…

> The hardships aren't self-imposed, our justice system is specifically and intentionally retributive If you want to know why this is, I would recommend Discipline and Punish by Foucault. Our present systems of justice go back hundreds of years, when a crime was considered an attack on the sovereign, aka the King, or the Prince. Back then crimes were punished by Hanging, or Torture, and it was done as an exercise of…

>Do you really think royalty cared if peasants killed each-other?)

Kinda hard to raise an army to fight the adjacent royal when one town's contingent hates some other town's contingent more than they hate the enemy.

But yeah, they mostly let the peasants do whatever so long as the particular whatever wasn't potentially bad for them.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#294

statement 1 - "These are some of the most sincere, honest, and heroic people I’ve ever met." statement 2 - "And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days."

Is leaving a job we're you're not a good fit not sincere and honest, as opposed to slacking until fired? Is accepting to leave your own job and source and revenue when you know it's necessary despite the difficulty it will create for you, especially when in a difficult situation like an ex con, not heroic?

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#295
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's your type of understanding and fervor that's needed for a 70MR to move forward. Have you considered taking it over? Think about it. Sometimes you're the solution.

I haven't considered taking it over until your comment just now. I've always told myself I'd write a book and do some talks at some point in my life, but I've been heads down either trying to survive or building companies that I put it off. Thanks for the idea. Richard, I'll shoot you an email.

Count me in to help. I have a knack for making the impossible possible. I’ve mentored EIT’s through Defy in the past.

If you need clients I expect corp to corp agreements with established recruitment agencies would be a good place to start generating revenues.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For 3: a. The official number is ~254,000 (in the USA) which is certainly a major over-estimate. True number is certainly far less. b. Employees who died or retired don't count as resigned.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america Can you point me to your source(s) indicating the lower number you’re referring to?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-...

Then summing the 18-65 buckets (working age).

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#297
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s kinda odd. I’d expect people to be happy to have a new job, but if they (regularly) quit after only a few days, then it sounds like being jobless is more comfortable for them (they can’t all find a different position after just a few days).

Either they like being jobless (which isn’t really a typical type of person in my experience), or the job itself was terrible due to pay, commute, working conditions, company culture, etc. or they were able to find more favorable employment outside of 70M. I would love to know what jobs were difficult to fill and how much they paid because “The Great Resignation” narrative (kind of conveniently) squarely puts the bla…

Those are all possible explanations, but it seems unlikely that previously acceptable jobs suddenly turned unacceptable at the same time COVID started?

Kind of hard to think something suddenly changed about the operation of the company that had been running well for the past few years.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#298
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also opens up an opportunity to hit the big reset button of life. A new country, new culture, new friends and even new languages in many cases. People have the opportunity to become a new person, and it's not just those with a criminal past either. Perhaps those who have experienced persecution can also start a new chapter in a safer environment.

In my case it was a credit score. I was in a bad motorcycle accident at 19, I defaulted on every loan at the time (vehicle + credit cards + medical debt) while I was busy learning how to walk again. 15 years later, I still couldn’t get a credit card for more than $250, told no to getting a mortgage even with a VA loan, etc. My credit score couldn’t get higher than 600 even after those defaults fell off my record. Now…

After 7 years your credit history should be empty. So likely you couldn’t get loans for lack of credit history. There is also no such thing as a VA vehicle loan. Many of us went through this same thing in 2012.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What crime were you convicted of?

Does it matter? He served his time and/or paid a fine. If he didn't meet the random friend in HS it would be ridiculous hard to get a job.

No, but it’s still a curiosity. Why are you so defensive?

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#300
>There was no opportunity to raise additional funding, so I began injecting my own money into the company—money I barely have—just to keep the lights on.

Honestly curious: If your company managed to become profitable and has been operating since 2016, how were you not able to generate enough business or personal income to sustain the company further from the point you describe above? I'm sorry if it's an invasive question, but to me the idea of running a profitable business for several years and that still not being enough to have earned a decent life/business cushion is seriously demotivating for entrepreneurship effort.

Edit: sorry to hear about the closure too. Your service seems like a genuinely wonderful thing, and especially in a country like the U.S, with often grotesquely punitive attitudes towards people with criminal records.

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