Did Joe die?

[MyndFyre]

Speculate.

[Sidoh]

O.o

Why? I talked with him a week ago. He was dealing with some legal drama.

[iago]

I think he's alive, since he responded to you about 3 hours ago on FB. :)

Also, legal issues can suck. I nearly got pulled into a legal thing for something that wasn't even (barely) my fault! Fortunately, I resolved it with the business owner before it got bad. But I had a couple stressful days there!

[Joe]

I'm more alive than these forums, sheesh.

By the way, if I die within the next 48 hours, the reasonable suspicion is that Myndy killed me.

[Joe]

some legal drama.

lol. So, I was working for a LLC in town here, owned by classmates. We were contracting with another company to build an app that I can't tell you the name of in the same context as whining about them. :P

Essentially we were 99% done with the whole project and they met with the company members, told them that the contract was an at-will employment agreement and was being terminated. The funny thing is, that's a complete and utter lie, and the sad thing is the guys here fell for it. *facepalm*

From there, they pulled a bunch of (il)legal maneuvering to misappropriate $50,000 worth of equity from us ($12,000 from me personally), and posted some BS on an investment site about how their current developer guy has overseen the iOS development from the start. I sent them a cease and desist (basically, remove the BS so I don't look like a douche when I say that I oversaw the development from the beginning), they told me it wasn't going to happen. I wrote to the guys who own the investment site and let's just say it's not there anymore. *flex*

PM me and I can send you a link to the app, or I can post it some other time. It's actually pretty cool. :)

[Sidoh]

Heh, nice. Good for you, standing up for yourself and stuff. That's impressive. :)

Sure, I'll take a look at the app. Send a link my way? :)

[Newby]

Essentially we were 99% done with the whole project and they met with the company members, told them that the contract was an at-will employment agreement and was being terminated. The funny thing is, that's a complete and utter lie, and the sad thing is the guys here fell for it. *facepalm*

And that's why I worry about doing work with startups. If business wasn't money-over-everything, it'd be soooo much nicer.

[Sidoh]

Really early-stage startups have that bit of uncertainty about them, but there are plenty of well-established startups that probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Dropbox is a pretty excellent example.

[Joe]

Well, up until that point it was a really good working relationship. I should say it seemed like one, at least.. clearly we were just their bitches. But I can't say I didn't have fun working on the project.

I still don't know if I like the term startup. To me, it implies building a product just to sell it, so you don't really have long-term goals in mind. Or, if you do have long term goals and don't plan to sell at the first offer, then when are you not a startup anymore? Like, is Twitter still a startup?

I think business with startups is generally safer, in some ways. Our budget went 100% to paying us, paying taxes, and buying equipment (computers and phones). We didn't budget for a lawyer, an accountant (oh but believe me it would have been a good idea), and we didn't even have time to screw with people. Sidoh said on Facebook I should work for someone with BD and legal teams, and I was thinking "yep, those are the company's who have time to screw people". :)

[Sidoh]

Well, up until that point it was a really good working relationship. I should say it seemed like one, at least.. clearly we were just their bitches. But I can't say I didn't have fun working on the project.

I still don't know if I like the term startup. To me, it implies building a product just to sell it, so you don't really have long-term goals in mind. Or, if you do have long term goals and don't plan to sell at the first offer, then when are you not a startup anymore? Like, is Twitter still a startup?

I think business with startups is generally safer, in some ways. Our budget went 100% to paying us, paying taxes, and buying equipment (computers and phones). We didn't budget for a lawyer, an accountant (oh but believe me it would have been a good idea), and we didn't even have time to screw with people. Sidoh said on Facebook I should work for someone with BD and legal teams, and I was thinking "yep, those are the company's who have time to screw people". :)

Startup does not suggest what you're saying it suggests. Startups often accept buyout offers, and some startups are designed to work towards that as a goal, but not all of them. There are plenty of companies that were startups, went through some transformations, and now have gone through, are going through, or will go through an IPO. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp are good examples.

No, I don't think I'd call Twitter a startup. Its business model is pretty well defined. It definitely was a startup, though, and is another great example of a startup that didn't aim to be bought out.

'Startup' is just a word for a company that hasn't settled on a foundation for its business model yet.

[deadly7]

I think he's alive, since he responded to you about 3 hours ago on FB. :)

Also, legal issues can suck. I nearly got pulled into a legal thing for something that wasn't even (barely) my fault! Fortunately, I resolved it with the business owner before it got bad. But I had a couple stressful days there!

I didn't realize Mark Zuckerberg was so understanding!

[Sidoh]

I think he's alive, since he responded to you about 3 hours ago on FB. :)

Also, legal issues can suck. I nearly got pulled into a legal thing for something that wasn't even (barely) my fault! Fortunately, I resolved it with the business owner before it got bad. But I had a couple stressful days there!

I didn't realize Mark Zuckerberg was so understanding!

Was this the nonsense about you scraping the names data off of the facebook directory? That was great. :)

[iago]

I think he's alive, since he responded to you about 3 hours ago on FB. :)

Also, legal issues can suck. I nearly got pulled into a legal thing for something that wasn't even (barely) my fault! Fortunately, I resolved it with the business owner before it got bad. But I had a couple stressful days there!

I didn't realize Mark Zuckerberg was so understanding!

Was this the nonsense about you scraping the names data off of the facebook directory? That was great. :)

Haha no, that's not the situatin I was talking about. :)