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Fucking Sue Me (2011)

pud.com

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Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#11

Post by ojbyrne »

JonFish85 wrote: post #3

As much as I admire the candor & spirit of this, at the same time, I'd hate to have the chance of being completely destroyed by the lawyers. Dodged a bullet in this case, but to me, the downside is not even close to worth the upside. $400k contract, but if things go horribly awry, their lawyers are coming after you for millions, and drag you through the mud. Not worth it, in my opinion.

But from the other side, the perspective is probably:

- legal fees are going to be in the $100k's

- he clearly has little money, so even if we win, we'll end up garnishing his wages for 40 years to get a fraction of what we sued for.

- we might not win, then we're further in the hole

So take the loss and move on. Thus from pud's side it's not an insane risk, but a calculated one.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#12

Post by stevenj »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #6
calinet6 wrote: post #5

Well this just makes you sound reckless and ignorant. I don't think you are. The conclusion might be valuable; that taking risks is a necessary part of business. But the way you get there is not by ignoring the risks, but by fully understanding them and being prepared and willing to deal with the consequences. This is why you read the contract, understood it, and decided to sign it. It was because you understood all…

This is from 1998 (written up in 2011), and was written by pud of f*ckedcompany fame, I think. He probably doesn't read hackernews.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pud

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#13

Post by oskarth »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #6
calinet6 wrote: post #5

Well this just makes you sound reckless and ignorant. I don't think you are. The conclusion might be valuable; that taking risks is a necessary part of business. But the way you get there is not by ignoring the risks, but by fully understanding them and being prepared and willing to deal with the consequences. This is why you read the contract, understood it, and decided to sign it. It was because you understood all…

This is from 1998 (written up in 2011), and was written by pud of f*ckedcompany fame, I think. He probably doesn't read hackernews.

He very much does. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pud (last comment was a month ago).

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#14

Post by OhHeyItsE »

Good read. I get the message: done is better than perfect. However, in this specific example, it's pretty terrible advice to sign a contract that leaves you in a compromising position just to get a job. You'd probably be better off signing no contract at all.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#15

Post by calinet6 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #6
calinet6 wrote: post #5

Well this just makes you sound reckless and ignorant. I don't think you are. The conclusion might be valuable; that taking risks is a necessary part of business. But the way you get there is not by ignoring the risks, but by fully understanding them and being prepared and willing to deal with the consequences. This is why you read the contract, understood it, and decided to sign it. It was because you understood all…

This is from 1998 (written up in 2011), and was written by pud of f*ckedcompany fame, I think. He probably doesn't read hackernews.

Well, I honestly don't think of hackernews comments as a direct communication method. Think of it as a commentary.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#16

Post by jimhefferon »

mildtrepidation wrote: post #7

I'm not sure what the lesson is here. If a lesson would be considered an informative or useful conclusion based on the circumstances and results described, I'd say the only lesson here is that the author was very lucky despite what seems -- at least as described -- like very risky behavior. This definitely is not the way to run a business, particularly when there are people depending on you. It's great that it went w…

> calculated risks

Yes, you shouldn't agree to every crazy clause that is in a contract someone sends you. But you also shouldn't get sucked into lawyering. Your lawyer is paid to say "What about .." but it is kind of a YAGNI thing: the lawyer meeting is a part of getting work done but don't let it be too big a part.

That's the calculated part of your comment and personally, reading this post in the past helped me to see that.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#18

Post by Spearchucker »

JonFish85 wrote: post #3

As much as I admire the candor & spirit of this, at the same time, I'd hate to have the chance of being completely destroyed by the lawyers. Dodged a bullet in this case, but to me, the downside is not even close to worth the upside. $400k contract, but if things go horribly awry, their lawyers are coming after you for millions, and drag you through the mud. Not worth it, in my opinion.

It is human nature to be more motivated by the threat of loss than the possibility of gaining something of equal value.

Regardless of our predilection, neither is wrong, nor right. It simply is. Being aware of it however, gives us choice.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#19

Post by wavefunction »

jacobparker wrote: post #9

Relevant Hark! A Vagrant: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=206

I downvoted your post because it only contained a link to a web comic. If you had provided some of your own opinions on the blog post or why the comic was relevant to the blog post, I would have refrained.

I like to explain my downvotes when the downvoted post is not an obvious troll.

Re: Fucking Sue Me (2011)

#20

Post by bananashake »

There are a few lessons

1) redlining a contract too much can destroy deals. Some lawyers do this instinctively but you should talk to your lawyer and review the changes and make sure all are important to you.

2) when you are starting off in business you can take more risks. but, i think that when you are established, it pays to be more cautious.

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