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I worked at Triplebyte until I was laid off in April due to COVID. I’ve disagreed with many company decisions (including opt-out public profiles) but I’ve never

by nbgl 6y ago

I worked at Triplebyte until I was laid off in April due to COVID. I’ve disagreed with many company decisions (including opt-out public profiles) but I’ve never questioned Ammon’s integrity. I remember him as an honest person (at times perhaps to his detriment) and if he claims this this is unintentional, then I believe him. Independently, from what I remember of those parts of the company codebase, my prior would be that this is a bug, not malice.

gingerlime 6y ago
can you elaborate about the opt-out public profiles? I never ever used Triplebyte, yet they seem to have some kind of a shadow profile of me? the only way I know is since I saw that they shared my details with Facebook[0] Definitely feels like —- whatever their intentions are —- they do seem to use some scummy “growth hacking” techniques with little respect to privacy. [0] https://blog.gingerlime.com/2020/whos-sharing-my-data-and-who-the-hell-is-dave-m-rogenmoser/ https://blog.gingerlime.com/2020/whos-sharing-my-data-and-wh...
- csande17 6y ago
  See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23279837 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23279837 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23303037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23303037
  - tpxl 6y ago
    FWIW from that thread I got the feeling that Ammon truly did not comprehend what the problem was and came back a few days later apologizing and reversing the decision.
- nbgl 6y ago
  Some months ago Triplebyte was planning to make every candidate’s profile public unless the candidate took action to opt out. After outcry on HN, they reversed the decision (made it opt-in) and Ammon emailed out an apology. I really don’t know the details of Triplebyte’s growth strategy—I never worked with that team.
- ammon 6y ago
  We don’t have shadow profiles or anything like that
  - gingerlime 6y ago
    That still doesn't explain how my details were shared by TripleByte with Facebook, when I never gave my email or any details to TripleByte. I don't think I even visited your site...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
runnerup 6y ago
> Independently, from what I remember of those parts of the company codebase, my prior would be that this is a bug, not malice. Indeed. I'm not associated with the company at all but this seems like a pretty typical bug for mailing lists. Anecdotes elsewhere in this thread about people who were referred and/or interviewed but who've not received any spam seem to back that up(?). TripleByte did legitimately screw up by planning to make profiles public by default. I was upset with that but also very, very impressed when (after a day of reflection and sleeping on it) they reversed course with a heartfelt apology. To me that's the kind of earnestness that I want in companies that I do business with. Some people continue to criticize them for ever imagining the plan in the first place or not immediately reversing course the same day as the initial backlash - but to me, I think the vast majority of humans generally come around the next day after sleeping on it rather than in the moment. TripleByte doesn't give me the "sociopathic company vibe" at all. If anything, I've been happy that I can recommend companies like this to colleagues/friends/old classmates who didn't go to top CS schools. A lot of students from the lesser schools have quite a bit of difficulty getting an interview at FAANG companies even after doing the leetcode grind because their resume simply cannot stand out in the online application system -- and without a strong alumni network to help with referrals, they're on their own. TripleByte (and similar services) do a pretty good job of at least getting you an interview if you've studied hard enough, regardless of your previous academic/professional background. That's a really powerful leg up for a lot of passionate and driven people who didn't go to the best schools.
- icelancer 6y ago
  >> I'm not associated with the company at all but this seems like a pretty typical bug for mailing lists Same, and I've done this on a 100k subscriber mailing list before on accident.
Daho0n 6y ago
Having shadow profiles and emailing people every month for years(see other posts) and being trustworthy doesn't seem to go together.
- draw_down 6y ago
  But but, he’s a nice guy!!
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
choppaface 6y ago
Have met Ammon and used the service. I agree it’s likely not malice but absolutely negligence. Ammon is in way over his head and has failed at recognizing that. Should have learned from the layoffs (COVID was an excuse but appears either Ammon personally had early knowledge of the impending lockdowns or the layoffs had been planned for weeks prior). Way way way too much leverage, and the lever rightfully bit back.

by nbgl 6y ago

gingerlime 6y ago

can you elaborate about the opt-out public profiles? I never ever used Triplebyte, yet they seem to have some kind of a shadow profile of me? the only way I know is since I saw that they shared my details with Facebook[0] Definitely feels like —- whatever their intentions are —- they do seem to use some scummy “growth hacking” techniques with little respect to privacy. [0] https://blog.gingerlime.com/2020/whos-sharing-my-data-and-who-the-hell-is-dave-m-rogenmoser/ https://blog.gingerlime.com/2020/whos-sharing-my-data-and-wh...

csande17 6y ago
See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23279837 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23279837 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23303037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23303037
- tpxl 6y ago
  FWIW from that thread I got the feeling that Ammon truly did not comprehend what the problem was and came back a few days later apologizing and reversing the decision.
nbgl 6y ago
Some months ago Triplebyte was planning to make every candidate’s profile public unless the candidate took action to opt out. After outcry on HN, they reversed the decision (made it opt-in) and Ammon emailed out an apology. I really don’t know the details of Triplebyte’s growth strategy—I never worked with that team.
ammon 6y ago
We don’t have shadow profiles or anything like that
- gingerlime 6y ago
  That still doesn't explain how my details were shared by TripleByte with Facebook, when I never gave my email or any details to TripleByte. I don't think I even visited your site...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

runnerup 6y ago

> Independently, from what I remember of those parts of the company codebase, my prior would be that this is a bug, not malice. Indeed. I'm not associated with the company at all but this seems like a pretty typical bug for mailing lists. Anecdotes elsewhere in this thread about people who were referred and/or interviewed but who've not received any spam seem to back that up(?). TripleByte did legitimately screw up by planning to make profiles public by default. I was upset with that but also very, very impressed when (after a day of reflection and sleeping on it) they reversed course with a heartfelt apology. To me that's the kind of earnestness that I want in companies that I do business with. Some people continue to criticize them for ever imagining the plan in the first place or not immediately reversing course the same day as the initial backlash - but to me, I think the vast majority of humans generally come around the next day after sleeping on it rather than in the moment. TripleByte doesn't give me the "sociopathic company vibe" at all. If anything, I've been happy that I can recommend companies like this to colleagues/friends/old classmates who didn't go to top CS schools. A lot of students from the lesser schools have quite a bit of difficulty getting an interview at FAANG companies even after doing the leetcode grind because their resume simply cannot stand out in the online application system -- and without a strong alumni network to help with referrals, they're on their own. TripleByte (and similar services) do a pretty good job of at least getting you an interview if you've studied hard enough, regardless of your previous academic/professional background. That's a really powerful leg up for a lot of passionate and driven people who didn't go to the best schools.

icelancer 6y ago
>> I'm not associated with the company at all but this seems like a pretty typical bug for mailing lists Same, and I've done this on a 100k subscriber mailing list before on accident.

Daho0n 6y ago

Having shadow profiles and emailing people every month for years(see other posts) and being trustworthy doesn't seem to go together.

draw_down 6y ago
But but, he’s a nice guy!!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

choppaface 6y ago

Have met Ammon and used the service. I agree it’s likely not malice but absolutely negligence. Ammon is in way over his head and has failed at recognizing that. Should have learned from the layoffs (COVID was an excuse but appears either Ammon personally had early knowledge of the impending lockdowns or the layoffs had been planned for weeks prior). Way way way too much leverage, and the lever rightfully bit back.