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I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

jzhwu.blogspot.com

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Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#381

Post by underwater »

ckdarby wrote: post #359
underwater wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to their site Miso have four engineers. At that scale there each and every engineer is responsibility for how things are run. If you want to only do what is assigned to you then you shouldn't be working at a startup. I've worked at small companies who'd punted on revision control and backups, and I made sure those things were put in place. When I haven't had the knowledge or access I've bought up the issue…

Oh! Just to clear things up a bit more... it just earned him $10K :)

Except he's donating it to charity.

I have to say he's handled the attention and criticism really well. His updated posts have addressed a lot of the points I bought up in my original comment.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#382

Post by slantyyz »

wpietri wrote: post #378
slantyyz wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, it's not common sense to assume that an employer will behave stupidly once you announce your intention to leave? You should assume that you'll get walked out when you hand in your resignation, and that after that, your former employer will not play nice. In small companies, I've seen owners contemplate/prepare nuisance lawsuits just to make examples out of recently exited people for sheer pettiness. And th…

Isn't it common sense to assume that there are dangerous people in the world? People getting assaulted should have known and taken appropriate precautions. I don't have any sympathy for them. Don't they read the papers?

Well, people wear seatbelts, helmets, etc. Do you knowingly walk down a dangerous street flaunting your wealth?

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#383

Post by rhizome »

paulsutter wrote: post #289
rhizome wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

emotionally determined to prove themselves right and him wrong. He's just increased their conviction to the point where they may fight it with irrational determination. If Miso is anything but self-funded, it would reflect extremely poorly on Miso for their executives to act in the way you describe here. It's simply bad business to dig in your butthurt heels.

True, but I've seen it happen. More big business decisions are made on an emotional basis then you might expect. I'm just trying to consider the matter from the pure perspective of how to get the best outcome.

It's pretty eye-opening to read this thread and see how much executives are excused from bad behavior, yet when a little guy acts against the conventional wisdom, as we see here, his future career is said to be hugely at risk.

Between a butthurt employee and a butthurt employer, why is it that the butthurt employer enjoys the benefits of a double standard?

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#384

Post by wpietri »

slantyyz wrote: post #382
wpietri wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it common sense to assume that there are dangerous people in the world? People getting assaulted should have known and taken appropriate precautions. I don't have any sympathy for them. Don't they read the papers?

Well, people wear seatbelts, helmets, etc. Do you knowingly walk down a dangerous street flaunting your wealth?

You're not getting it. With hindsight, you can always find a way to blame a victim. It's great fun: you get the chance to look knowing and smug, and your success rate in predicting the past is 100%.

Don't kick people when they're down. You end up looking like a heartless jerk.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#385

Post by rmc »

tobtoh wrote: post #364
mikeash wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He didn't fail it, it was just a bit late.

He left the company - he failed the condition. Once you leave a company, all your contacts are ended.

Nonsense. Lots of contracts can last after you stop being an employee, e.g. Non-compete contracts, non-disclosure agreements etc. If the employee leaves the day before their final salary payment is due, does that mean the company is no longer legally obliged to pay them? No.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#386

Post by rmc »

cletus wrote: post #130

"Name and shame" is a thorny issue. Opponents are right in the same way you shouldn't badmouth former employers in job interviewers. It's not fair but it makes you look worse. You just kind of have to suck it up and move on. When companies screw you out of money, you should name and shame them (IMHO). Trust me, over the years I've probably lost out on all told $50,000 or more that people never paid. In some cases it…

referral bonuses are paid to employees. He is not an employee.

There is a big difference between "Referral bonuses are only due to employees" and "Referral bonuses are only paid to employees". At one point in time he was an employee and hence was due the bonus. The bonus was not paid to him at the time though.

He is still due the bonus.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#387

Post by dwwoelfel »

marekmroz wrote: post #330
j_baker wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're missing my point. :-) I personally could care less whether you posted screenshots or not. But if you were considering employing someone and found that they had posted something like this (with little to no evidence), what would your reaction be? Heck, what would your reaction be if it did have screenshots?

It's "could NOT care less", unless you actually care a little and in fact could care less if not for that bit of care in your heart. If that is case, accept my sincere apologies. Pardon my pet peeve. To answer your question: if it were me hiring a person, absence or presence of screenshots would not make any difference. A contract is a contract and the person is owed $10k.

j_baker called it sarcasm. More generally, "could care less" is an idiom. It has a figurative meaning that is different from its literal meaning.

Here's a link to "could care less" in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, http://books.google.com/books?id=9re1vfFh04sC&pg=PA137&#...

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#388

Post by slantyyz »

wpietri wrote: post #384
slantyyz wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, people wear seatbelts, helmets, etc. Do you knowingly walk down a dangerous street flaunting your wealth?

You're not getting it. With hindsight, you can always find a way to blame a victim. It's great fun: you get the chance to look knowing and smug, and your success rate in predicting the past is 100%. Don't kick people when they're down. You end up looking like a heartless jerk.

I tend to think you're not getting it.

He's not a victim of a random crime (per your analogy, which to me is not apt), he's a victim of his own naivete and inexperience.

In the same way you had better know to take all of your most expensive gadgets out of your soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's apartment before you break up with her (lest they get smashed with a hammer), he should have done the same.

This is not even close to rocket science. To assume that people will behave like adults when you sever a relationship with them is extremely naive.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#389

Post by tripzilch »

backspace wrote: post #231
mikeash wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once you leave, you're not entitled to anything more from the company. Can you explain how this works, exactly? How does quitting one's job wipe clean any debt from the company to the now-former employee? Can they refuse to send him his last paycheck too?

No they cannot refuse to send him his last paycheck. I can't speak for the paperwork involved when leaving Miso, but most companies make you sign an agreement (often in the exit interview) that you are not entitled to/owed anything more than X, Y, Z items that are explicitly stated (which usually included the last paycheck and any unpaid vacation days).

Funny how everybody on the employer's side likes to grab hypothetical agreements and contracts out of thin air.

Re: I'm a former Miso engineer and the founders screwed me out of 10k

#390

Post by pbiggar »

nknight wrote: post #365
davidu wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you always come to these conclusions so quickly? I'm sharing my opinion, based on my experiences. I also explained that at my company perks are for employees, a status that the OP no longer maintains at Miso. Neither of us know the specifics of their deal. I think you've jumped a few steps ahead of where you ought to be at this juncture. Perhaps you simply disagree with my point of view. I think HN is often one-si…

You have announced to the world, entirely of your own accord, that you will flout the law and steal money from your employees. This is your doing, not mine. Is it also your habit to blame others for your own shortcomings?

I agree with davidu that you crossed the line. I certainly had a bad opinion about davidu and his company before your comment, but I didn't know who davidu was, or what his company was. So now I have a bad opinion about real life stuff, based off one comment with little context (perhaps it was hastily written, etc).

Taking one comment and trying to tie it to google juice about real life is a dickish move, IMO.

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