5 ms·

I've never worked for Google. Yet, I have a story to share

10 points by DrNuke 6y ago

gostsamo 6y ago
I'll take the heat for this comment, but I distrust the poster. The main facts might be correct, however the presentation and interpretations implied seem disingenuous. The Google representative from the story is woman, but a white one, which makes her a bit more evil than if she was any other color obviously. The other Google woman there is a colored one and is presumed innocent without proof in the text. Now I might be wrong and the poster might know things that she is not sharing. Or this is just an emotionally manipulative story. At least, she learns about the plagiarism in 2018, but at the end of the thread she says that she felt betrayed for the last four years. Final touch is how she leaves the discussion and pushes the "mom mode" just in case that we've forgotten. One of the reasons I don't like Twitter is how declarative it is with people stating their shit as universal truths, and no space for argumentation, construction of proofs, and nuance.
nowherebeen 6y ago
This is why you never share details with strangers even if they work at big tech. I’ve heard stories of big tech calling startups and asking questions about their implementation, framing it like they want to acquire them, and then flat out ghosting the startup and releasing a clone a few months later.
- adrianmsmith 6y ago
  We've all seen that Silicon Valley episode where the team is invited to an interview to talk about acquisition, and all the company does it steal the company's ideas. Three years ago I was working as the lead developer at a small startup in Europe, and a US competitor got in contact with the CEO and wanted to discuss an investment in us. The CEO told me to jump on a call and explain to them how our tech worked. I asked the CEO if they'd signed any form of NDA. Eventually they talked to our investors and they wrote to the company and asked to discuss an NDA. The company's reply was "We'd prefer to proceed without an NDA". I mean, no surprise there, I'm sure they would! We insisted on an NDA, no discussions were had. To pretend to be interested in a collaboration and use that to steal another company's ideas is totally normal in our industry it seems.
  - nowherebeen 6y ago
    I can see why. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Most startups are desperate and strap for cash. Added to the fact, they don’t have a lawyer on payroll, makes it a easy target for abuse.
- iKevinShah 6y ago
  This seems so bad from the gist of it, any big / famous examples? Would love to read more.
pomatic 6y ago
I sympathise with the OP, but have to take issue with the stereotyping of white women. It is just as wrong as the other, more common, forms of casual racism.
- rutthenut 6y ago
  I don't see why 'white' had to be mentioned at all. As to the OP, that is frustrating to think the idea discussed was implemented without even a reference. However, that was in 2016 and - for good reasons - she did not start on it herself until 2018. In that time, maybe the googlers put a lot of effort into it, involved a lot of other people and as OP had not kicked it off sooner, maybe assumed (wrongly) she had no further interest in progressing it.
  - Udik 6y ago
    Plus, frankly, that's just a map with a right column with the details of what's shown. Doesn't seem to be such an innovative idea or that much work either. The choice is basically whether to put the column to the left or to the right.
- gostsamo 6y ago
  My comment is currently flagged for expressing the same opinion.
randompwd 6y ago
> A white women in the guise of collaborating just used my idea without giving me any credit > This is why I have a major mistrust of DEI communities run by white women. Cool, so this twitter user is racist a la zeitgeist
callamdelaney 6y ago
She was basically told that google wanted to hire her and replied with an hourly rate? Where I’m from providing an hourly rate is for contractors, not employees. Additionally ideas mean basically nothing, execution is what counts and it looks like google executed better. The morale of the story is don’t be a dick when somebody offers you a job. Alternatively you can take the morale she’s taken, it was a while woman’s fault/s.
- nowherebeen 6y ago
  Execution implies competition. There’s no competition to be had if Google wants to clone you. They will always win because it cost them nothing to send 30 engineers to “execute” better than you.
throwaway29303 6y ago
I didn't have the courage to share this 2 years ago. I was a new mom. I was going through other struggles that took priority. (...) Well, this has been weighing me down for 4 years. I am glad to finally get this off my chest. Far from me to defend the big G - they're big and old enough to stand for themselves - but it's interesting how Veni tought was convenient to share her story right now while the Timni Gebru affair is simmering. Let's just be forward here, Veni, you were too greedy, obnoxious and extremist and they didn't want to work with someone like you. And you got angry because your demands were not met. I wasn't too fond of the idea of just getting credit. I either wanted to work on it or I wanted them to use what I had built already. Anyway, I responded with my hourly rate. I never heard back. Then I forgot about it. And not even mentioning the fact that you thought it was a good idea to ask for compensation just for having a simple conversation. I'm sorry but I can't feel any shred of sympathy for anyone who behaves like this.

10 points by DrNuke 6y ago

I'll take the heat for this comment, but I distrust the poster. The main facts might be correct, however the presentation and interpretations implied seem disingenuous. The Google representative from the story is woman, but a white one, which makes her a bit more evil than if she was any other color obviously. The other Google woman there is a colored one and is presumed innocent without proof in the text. Now I might be wrong and the poster might know things that she is not sharing. Or this is just an emotionally manipulative story. At least, she learns about the plagiarism in 2018, but at the end of the thread she says that she felt betrayed for the last four years. Final touch is how she leaves the discussion and pushes the "mom mode" just in case that we've forgotten. One of the reasons I don't like Twitter is how declarative it is with people stating their shit as universal truths, and no space for argumentation, construction of proofs, and nuance.

nowherebeen 6y ago

This is why you never share details with strangers even if they work at big tech. I’ve heard stories of big tech calling startups and asking questions about their implementation, framing it like they want to acquire them, and then flat out ghosting the startup and releasing a clone a few months later.

adrianmsmith 6y ago
We've all seen that Silicon Valley episode where the team is invited to an interview to talk about acquisition, and all the company does it steal the company's ideas. Three years ago I was working as the lead developer at a small startup in Europe, and a US competitor got in contact with the CEO and wanted to discuss an investment in us. The CEO told me to jump on a call and explain to them how our tech worked. I asked the CEO if they'd signed any form of NDA. Eventually they talked to our investors and they wrote to the company and asked to discuss an NDA. The company's reply was "We'd prefer to proceed without an NDA". I mean, no surprise there, I'm sure they would! We insisted on an NDA, no discussions were had. To pretend to be interested in a collaboration and use that to steal another company's ideas is totally normal in our industry it seems.
- nowherebeen 6y ago
  I can see why. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Most startups are desperate and strap for cash. Added to the fact, they don’t have a lawyer on payroll, makes it a easy target for abuse.
iKevinShah 6y ago
This seems so bad from the gist of it, any big / famous examples? Would love to read more.

pomatic 6y ago

I sympathise with the OP, but have to take issue with the stereotyping of white women. It is just as wrong as the other, more common, forms of casual racism.

rutthenut 6y ago
I don't see why 'white' had to be mentioned at all. As to the OP, that is frustrating to think the idea discussed was implemented without even a reference. However, that was in 2016 and - for good reasons - she did not start on it herself until 2018. In that time, maybe the googlers put a lot of effort into it, involved a lot of other people and as OP had not kicked it off sooner, maybe assumed (wrongly) she had no further interest in progressing it.
- Udik 6y ago
  Plus, frankly, that's just a map with a right column with the details of what's shown. Doesn't seem to be such an innovative idea or that much work either. The choice is basically whether to put the column to the left or to the right.
gostsamo 6y ago
My comment is currently flagged for expressing the same opinion.

randompwd 6y ago

> A white women in the guise of collaborating just used my idea without giving me any credit > This is why I have a major mistrust of DEI communities run by white women. Cool, so this twitter user is racist a la zeitgeist

callamdelaney 6y ago

She was basically told that google wanted to hire her and replied with an hourly rate? Where I’m from providing an hourly rate is for contractors, not employees. Additionally ideas mean basically nothing, execution is what counts and it looks like google executed better. The morale of the story is don’t be a dick when somebody offers you a job. Alternatively you can take the morale she’s taken, it was a while woman’s fault/s.

nowherebeen 6y ago
Execution implies competition. There’s no competition to be had if Google wants to clone you. They will always win because it cost them nothing to send 30 engineers to “execute” better than you.

throwaway29303 6y ago

I didn't have the courage to share this 2 years ago. I was a new mom. I was going through other struggles that took priority. (...) Well, this has been weighing me down for 4 years. I am glad to finally get this off my chest. Far from me to defend the big G - they're big and old enough to stand for themselves - but it's interesting how Veni tought was convenient to share her story right now while the Timni Gebru affair is simmering. Let's just be forward here, Veni, you were too greedy, obnoxious and extremist and they didn't want to work with someone like you. And you got angry because your demands were not met. I wasn't too fond of the idea of just getting credit. I either wanted to work on it or I wanted them to use what I had built already. Anyway, I responded with my hourly rate. I never heard back. Then I forgot about it. And not even mentioning the fact that you thought it was a good idea to ask for compensation just for having a simple conversation. I'm sorry but I can't feel any shred of sympathy for anyone who behaves like this.