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Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

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Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#191

Post by argonaut »

dreamweapon wrote: post #172
throwawayornot wrote: post #166

"yishan 27 points 15 minutes ago Hiya. It was a harsh response, I agree (there's actually more, but we're pulling our punches, if you can believe it), and in fact all day yesterday I didn't want to post a reply, hoping his AMA wouldn't get too much traction or he wouldn't spout too many misconceptions and we could all just continue going our separate ways. Problem is, this was starting to really irritate a number of…

TL;DR : "We got antsy; we didn't know what to do; so we retaliated."

That is not a tldr. That's your interpretation.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#193

Post by 001sky »

szierk wrote: post #164
waterlesscloud wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management then completely overreacts to criticism.

It's not the criticism; it's the fact that an ex-employee is lying through his teeth about the company.

Artfully telling lies is really a managerial skill in many workplaces.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#194

Post by FireBeyond »

smileysteve wrote: post #121
tedivm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's legal (and I just looked this up to confirm). Many companies will avoid commenting on these things because if they are not 100% accurate they raise the risk of a slander/libel case against them. For instance, if it turns out that Yishan here misspoke about something he could land the company in a bit of trouble. Whether legal or not, it's certainly childish. The fact is anyone could have seen that this was…

> For instance, if it turns out that Yishan here misspoke about something he could land the company in a bit of trouble. This is where the post goes horribly wrong, too much detail. If the former employee wants to start a lawsuit, any detail that can not be defined, was not measured, or is not written down is a liability. For example "not getting much work done"

Precisely. It's a hugely, and highly subjective detail. Is he a lazy slacker? Or was his idea of a full-time job not in line with management's (possibly onerous) vision of the same?

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#195

Post by jsmthrowaway »

austinl wrote: post #153
differentView wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What should Yishan have said?

In the spirit of non-disparagement, it seems like Yishan could have sent a private message to the employee which reiterated why he had been fired, and asked him to stop posting about it. If Yishan felt that it was necessary to comment, he could have still posted something without Reddit losing face – something like, "We're sorry that you feel our decision to let you go was unclear. I've sent you a private message, an…

Someone shits on your company in public and you lead with "we're sorry?" I'd quit working for you on that alone.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#196

Post by mindcrime »

Karunamon wrote: post #79
penprog wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, this post only makes reddit look like a very unprofessional workplace.

Maybe it's not "professional", where that word has the common meaning of avoiding saying hard truths on the grounds that someone's feelings and/or political position might be hurt. This significantly elevates Reddit, IMO. Their CEO acts like a fucking human being instead of a politicized, sanitized, pretentious, weasel-wording sock puppet like so many other CEOs. You have no idea how much respect I have for this.

> You have no idea how much respect I have for this.

Same here. A CEO doesn't have to be a "soulless robot like David Simms" type... showing some passion, fire and enthusiasm and being - as you said - "a fucking human being" is a Good Thing in some eyes.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#197

Post by atwebb »

DanBC wrote: post #145

I'd love to know what the inappropriate interview qusstio s were (if that bit is true).

Giving the benefit of the doubt I'd guess things that were just off script, even more guessing, either silly stuff or trying to make the candidate feel uncomfortable/inferior. Those are the most common I've seen at least.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#198

Post by Iftheshoefits »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #169
Iftheshoefits wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should anybody believe either the CEO or the ex-employee based only on their word? You're assuming the CEO has all the actual facts and is being honest about them. I can envision many scenarios where he may actually have cause to believe he has the actual facts, when he doesn't (e.g. colleagues lying about the employee's resistance to change, performance, etc.).

Because CEO has taken a few orders of magnitude more of personal risk here than the ex-employee.

Nonsense. For starters the employee's actual identity is apparently known and there are comments in one of the threads indicating hiring managers at other companies have taken note of him (negatively). Secondly, being the CEO of a YC company means he's "in the club." Short of explicitly defrauding investors, the limit to this guy's personal risk is very lilely that he may be forced out of his CEO role. Unless he's a very stupid person he has put enough untouchable wealth aside to be just fine should this occur. Even if he hasn't I would suggest his chances of securing funding for another company is not impacted by this drama negatively (in fact, it may have a positive effect).

Besides that, even if he did have more at stake personally that is insufficient reason to take his word over the employee's, because there's nothing even close to any objective evidence in such a determination: it's purely subjective based on your own biases.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#199

Post by UK-AL »

lectrick wrote: post #62
dreamweapon wrote: post #10

Sounds like a toxic environment. Whatever the employee may have done to deserve separation, it is profoundly weird and troubling (and also, implicitly threatening to all employees, whatever their rank or standing) to see a CEO discuss those reasons in public.

Performance is not necessarily a death sentence. I've had jobs where I've performed poorly and jobs where I've performed excellently. I've also had years I was "on" and years I was a little "off." Businesses are not charities. They need to get things done. If you can't do the things, then they don't have to continue to pay you. Like it or not, that's how it works.

That's because performance is easily gamed. A manager could make someones performance look bad, or good regardless of reality. That's why you can suddenly be a good performer or bad performer just by changing companies. It doesn't even have to be a conscious thing. Everybody is subconsciously biased.

If you like don't like someone, you performance managament them out by like giving them lots of terrible tasks or stupidly high targets. This is a well known technique, recommend by most HR people.

Anyone who's been work for a decent amount of time, knows this. Workplaces can be more like high school playground the with popular kids and the outcasts, then a merit based thing.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#200

Post by Dewie »

dreamweapon wrote: post #172
throwawayornot wrote: post #166

"yishan 27 points 15 minutes ago Hiya. It was a harsh response, I agree (there's actually more, but we're pulling our punches, if you can believe it), and in fact all day yesterday I didn't want to post a reply, hoping his AMA wouldn't get too much traction or he wouldn't spout too many misconceptions and we could all just continue going our separate ways. Problem is, this was starting to really irritate a number of…

TL;DR : "We got antsy; we didn't know what to do; so we retaliated."

Quick! Fire from the hips...
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