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Several years ago, I worked for a company that held a hackathon for developers. We were given one day to build whatever we wanted for a new API that was recent

by teej 16y ago

Several years ago, I worked for a company that held a hackathon for developers. We were given one day to build whatever we wanted for a new API that was recently released. I worked on it for that day, and for many days afterwards during work hours. After three weeks of development, I was told that I would be fired unless I ceased work on the project and got back to work. Figuring I would "beg for forgiveness" later, I kept working on it in secret. Two weeks later, it was finished and I launched it into the wild. They weren't happy, but let me stay. Six months after launch my hackathon project had millions of users and had made the company over seven figures. I didn't end up getting fired, but I came close.

jfager 16y ago
That's not backfiring, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. The only way it could possibly be more storybook is if you had been fired and those 7 figures ended up directly in your pocket.
- cema 16y ago
  Or perhaps he would have been fired and the money would still go into the company's pockets.
  - jfager 16y ago
    Of course that could have happened, too, but that wouldn't make for a very good storybook ending, would it?
jfarmer 16y ago
I was all, "Hey, interesting story." Then I was all, "I wonder who wrote it?" Now I'm all "!!!". The world that might have been. Do you ever think it would have been better if you had gotten fired?
- teej 16y ago
  I'm definitely better off now. If I had been fired, it's unlikely I would've been successful in the space. I managed to sit on lots of panels, meet some top-tier people in the valley, and make some great connections. I didn't hit a $$ homerun this way, but my long-term prospects are good.
  - jfarmer 16y ago
    Given some of the (independent) people I know who did hit a home run, I'd say you're selling yourself short, though perhaps that depends on your definition of "home run."

by teej 16y ago

jfager 16y ago

That's not backfiring, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. The only way it could possibly be more storybook is if you had been fired and those 7 figures ended up directly in your pocket.

cema 16y ago
Or perhaps he would have been fired and the money would still go into the company's pockets.
- jfager 16y ago
  Of course that could have happened, too, but that wouldn't make for a very good storybook ending, would it?

jfarmer 16y ago

I was all, "Hey, interesting story." Then I was all, "I wonder who wrote it?" Now I'm all "!!!". The world that might have been. Do you ever think it would have been better if you had gotten fired?

teej 16y ago
I'm definitely better off now. If I had been fired, it's unlikely I would've been successful in the space. I managed to sit on lots of panels, meet some top-tier people in the valley, and make some great connections. I didn't hit a $$ homerun this way, but my long-term prospects are good.
- jfarmer 16y ago
  Given some of the (independent) people I know who did hit a home run, I'd say you're selling yourself short, though perhaps that depends on your definition of "home run."