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

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

#61

Post by zackattack » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:22 PM UTC

bandy wrote: post #29

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.

Any talented engineer under the age of 30, yes. (Corollary: any engineer over the age of 30 has no talent in the eyes of the Valley)

This is stupid, untrue and counter productive.

I'll put my money where my mouth is. Know a talented engineer over the age of 30? Or 40? Or 50? I know several prestigious firms that would be eager to hire her. Contact me and I'll share my referral bounty with you.

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

#62

Post by benatkin » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:22 PM UTC

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…

I agree that your example is extreme. But I think that its extremeness invalidates it. There's a big difference between immigration and employment. Many families depend on a single country's immigration policies to be together. People who are barred from one company can seek employment at another company.

David Sacks' move is personal, and moves made out of frustration are often hypocritical, and I'm not surprised it's going to piss some people off. I'm glad this is just one person and one medium-sized company. If Apple, Microsoft, or Google announced this type of policy in a press release I'd be disgusted. It's easy for me to shrug it off when a CEO of a company with fewer than 500 employees announces it in a tweet and quickly waters it down significantly. https://twitter.com/#!/DavidSacks/status/179788086862028800

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

#63

Post by larrys » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:22 PM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #35

brown9-2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there is a difference between punishing the company management that made the decision and employees that had nothing to do with the decision.

If my employer suddenly got into the business of mulching orphans for fertilizer, I'd consider it my personal responsibility to quit/move on as soon as possible. Yahoo employees should get no blame for decisions they didn't make, but they do have to bear the responsibility for tacitly condoning this behavior. Considering the current job market for software engineers in the Bay Area, the whole "but I need to pay rent"…

"If my employer suddenly got into the business of mulching orphans for fertilizer, I'd consider it my personal responsibility to quit/move on as soon as possible."

You mean you wouldn't leave the same day?

What's the point of using an example like that?

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

#64

Post by recoiledsnake » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:24 PM UTC

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.'

Thanks for invoking the Godwin's law. I can easily ignore this comment thread.

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

#65

Post by spullara » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:24 PM UTC

atonse wrote: post #52

guimarin wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.'

To add some perspective Yahoo has just entered the ranks of a Grade-A patent troll. That is the _worst_ of their offenses. That puts them in the same league as Intellectual Ventures. That's it. They're no worse. Let's not lose sight of that. There's no real "news" here, apart from the sad realization that this is the strongest signal yet that Yahoo is now just an empty shell of suits, bean counters, and lawyers.

To be clear, Yahoo has implemented and currently has in production the things covered by the patents. As much as I don't like what they are doing, they are pretty far above a patent troll.

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

#66

Post by ChuckMcM » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:24 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #6

Does Yammer have similar policies against hiring people from Apple, Microsoft, or Oracle? This reeks of publicity-seeking.

Of course it is, but its also a clever strategy to capitalize on engineers who might be feeling poorly about their own company at the moment. As recruiters know, there are a lot of great candidates just under the surface (or 'loose in the socket' as a manager of mine once said). This kind of thing might make them more likely to see employment elsewhere, and like car dealers that offer a free 'umbrella hat' if you will let them get 'first crack at a deal' you can capture some good talent if you are the first company they talk to.

The story helps Yammer reach out to those people and offer them a conversation.

If anyone does go interview there, ask what they they are doing about software patents. One interesting trick would be to let the employee/inventor retain ownership and sign over only a license to the company.

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

#67

Post by motoford » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:25 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #27

motoford wrote: post #13

I thought his statement was over the top at first, but after I read the article I say good for him for standing up for what he thinks is right. We all know that this patent nonsense has got to stop. There is nobody building any app anywhere that does not violate some patent. The only way we are surviving is by being under the radar. Let's not forgive Yahoo for this like we forgave Amazon. I'm especially pissed at Yah…

But there is a difference between punishing the company management that made the decision and employees that had nothing to do with the decision.

Some of us have walked away from good gigs -- forfeiting ownership, abandoning products that we conceived, developed and lived and breathed -- all because someone in control started doing something evil.

I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I have never regretted that decision.

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

#68

Post by Tossrock » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:26 PM UTC

msbarnett wrote: post #20

brooknam wrote: post #4

This goes a bit far. I am sure there are fine folks at Yahoo who have achieved seniority that they need to support their families. They may object to how the company does business, but can't just walk away job. Is the hiring situation in the Valley really so intense that anyone could find new work in 60 days?

> Is the hiring situation in the Valley really so intense that anyone could find new work in 60 days? If you can program your way out of a paper bag and find your ass with both hands and a google search, yeah. Which isn't to say that everyone can feasibly walk away in 60 days. If you're waiting for compensation to vest after an acquisition by Yahoo!, say.

This is patently untrue. I have a friend who graduated from UCLA with a computing minor who was working (unpaid) in a Stanford lab who couldn't find paying work for over 9 months. And no, he is not some kind of idiot, he got a 2390 on the new SAT and even showers regularly.

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

#69

Post by psycho » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:26 PM UTC

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…

I guess that it won't go far more than just a statement from one CEO. Hope, other Valley CEOs are more reasonable and will take arguments like yours into consideration.

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

#70

Post by praxeologist » Wed, Mar 14, 2012, 10:26 PM UTC

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.'

As a good example for how long it might take people to wise up about IP (it needs to be abolished wholesale), take note that US citizenship stuff still asks if people are a member of the Communist Party.