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Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

venturebeat.com

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Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#41

Post by guimarin »

shingen wrote: post #33

While it's a perfectly fine choice to ostracize Yahoo for their actions, Yammer's CEO is going to end up looking like little more than a hypocrite at the least, and maybe a dipshit, if he doesn't apply the same rules to all companies equally based on behavior. The odds the CEO will apply the same rule to all other companies acting with patent belligerence? Approximately zero. They'd need a substantial piece of tracki…

It can be done. Look at the US. Ever had to fill out, 'Not a member of the Nazi Party between 1933-1945? The US Citizenship test in no way makes the US look like a 'serious jerkwad.'

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#42

Post by robryan »

efsavage wrote: post #34

This seems a bit of a broad swath for my taste, as Yahoo is a big place, but when screening resumes, someone listing their software patents is an automatic strike 1 and 2 in my book.

I think it is a bit unfair as a policy, unless then used those patents themselves. While not ideal, right now it would be silly not to attempt to register defensive patents given the resources to do so.

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#43

Post by technomancy »

msbarnett wrote: post #23
unabridged wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to bind yourself from suing people who violate the patent just give the patent to public domain, it will have the same effect.

IANAL but people who Are A Lawyer seem to feel that there's no legally meaningful way to place anything in the public domain, currently, at least in the United States.

The public domain is the wrong place for this, but you can certainly grant irrevocable patent licenses. IIRC this is how the GPL3 works. (Not that you'd have to license under the GPL to use the same strategy, it just shows it's possible)

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#44

Post by brown9-2 »

techwraith wrote: post #31
mindstab wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also this is the first time I've heard of Yammer, while Yahoo is big and old. Is this even a likely occurrence? Have they had or hired many or any yahoo ex employees in the past? Headline read to me "Small no name startup says they won't hire employees from huge company that's also never heard of them" Seems all about the publicity.

Yammer as a company has almost 300 employees, just raised an $85 million round, is growing like crazy, and has (a lot of) real revenue. Hardly a "small no name startup".

and has (a lot of) real revenue

Do they make those numbers public though? All I could find was this http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/26/yammer-doubling-revenue-eve...

Revenue in 2009 was “seven figures.” I asked Sacks to narrow that down in the video but he refused. He does say that Q1 2010 revenue exceeded all of 2009 revenue, and that revenue is now doubling every quarter. Yammer’s revenue goal by end of year is to be at a $10 million annual run rate.

That's not nothing, but it seems unfair to laud a company for bringing in a lot of real revenue if they don't disclose the actual number.

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#45

Post by prodigal_erik »

brnstz wrote: post #22
encoderer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any talented engineer, yes. So either you're soulless and refuse to leave, or you're incompetent and you're scared to leave. Either way, not hiring them seems fair to me.

The CEO of Yammer is free to hire whomever he wants, but saying you're either soulless or incompetent is a false dichotomy. Just because your employer's use of patents isn't the most important factor in your life doesn't make you soulless. There are much more controversial topics on which reasonable people disagree.

There are few other topics which can threaten the very independence of our profession. That said, patent trolls don't really need engineers—any sociopath who can afford a patent agent can trick the beleaguered USPTO examiners into rubber-stamping an absurdly overbroad patent that claims an entire problem. I'm a little surprised Yahoo didn't assign their patents to some troll who can't be counter-sued.

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#48

Post by shingen »

guimarin wrote: post #41
shingen wrote: post #33

While it's a perfectly fine choice to ostracize Yahoo for their actions, Yammer's CEO is going to end up looking like little more than a hypocrite at the least, and maybe a dipshit, if he doesn't apply the same rules to all companies equally based on behavior. The odds the CEO will apply the same rule to all other companies acting with patent belligerence? Approximately zero. They'd need a substantial piece of tracki…

It can be done. Look at the US. Ever had to fill out, 'Not a member of the Nazi Party between 1933-1945? The US Citizenship test in no way makes the US look like a 'serious jerkwad.'

If the US Citizenship test assumed all Germans from 1933-45 were volitional Nazis, then yes it'd be a jerkwad test.

Re: Yammer CEO won't hire anyone from Yahoo who doesn't quit in next 60 days

#50

Post by msbarnett »

technomancy wrote: post #43
msbarnett wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL but people who Are A Lawyer seem to feel that there's no legally meaningful way to place anything in the public domain, currently, at least in the United States.

The public domain is the wrong place for this, but you can certainly grant irrevocable patent licenses. IIRC this is how the GPL3 works. (Not that you'd have to license under the GPL to use the same strategy, it just shows it's possible)

That makes sense
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