5 ms·

If I were your lawyer I would advise you to delete this comment as it would likely be used against you in court as proof of your pattern of misrepresentations.

If I were your lawyer I would advise you to delete this comment as it would likely be used against you in court as proof of your pattern of misrepresentations. But you do you, I guess. At any rate enough people have been made aware of your lies that the harm you can continue doing is limited.

austenallred 4y ago
I will happily defend everything I’ve said in a courtroom if necessary.
- gamblor956 4y ago
  - bigDinosaur 4y ago
    This seems unnecessarily aggressive as a general comment. Part of what makes HN interesting is the CEO's (and other high profile individuals at least in the tech industry) that sometimes comment. Certainly I think a CEO should have the time to write something on HN.
  - chrisfosterelli 4y ago
    Is that how we now treat execs who bother to come directly address criticism aimed at their companies on HN? This is one the few places on the web that happens. You can still disagree with him if you want, but coming here to talk with us directly is respectable IMO. Focus on the arguments and not ad hominem.
    - gamblor956 4y ago
      If he's going to lie, yes.
      - austenallred 4y ago
        Feel free to point out where I lie
        effingwewt 4y ago
        austenallred 4y ago
        The fact that we changed our name because of a trademark lawsuit is a matter of public record https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/4:2019cv04060/344815?amp https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/4:2019cv...
        dzader 4y ago
        dang 4y ago
        You can't attack others like this here, regardless of whom you're attacking. We ban accounts that do it, so please don't do it again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html To answer the obvious rejoinder: no, we don't do this because someone is a YC founder—it's actually the opposite. We moderate less, not more, when YC or a YC startup is in the story: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20moderate%20%22less%2C%20not%20more%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu.... But "less" doesn't mean "not", and if we allow "you're such a scumbag liar" then we might as well not have any guidelines at all. Please don't post like this again.
        austenallred 4y ago
        Hmm, it is interesting to me that sometimes when clear evidence conflicts with an existing mental model it’s easier to create imaginary evidence than to adjust the mental model.
  - austenallred 4y ago
    That's a totally fair question. When we were a much smaller company I would take a lot of time to respond to communicate with folks directly, and I learned a lot from it, and think everyone benefited from that level of direct communication. As we got bigger we got an expensive PR firm who built a big wall around me and put everything I said through review 8 times to massage it for _just the right tone_. There are too many other variables to know whether that was the right move or not, but it always felt wrong to me. I now regard that as a mistake, as I do many other "big company" things we did. (Broadly, my mental model for success was that we needed to grow up and become a "big company." Now I'm of the opinion that to be a successful company should actively fight against everything that feels "big company." Fewer meetings, more focus on the little details, etc.) So I don't know that it will work, but I'm intentionally carving out time to keep my ear to the ground and be responsive directly.
- sandofsky 4y ago
  I will bet $1,000 to the charity of your choice that you will settle your personal lawsuit— the one on this very matter— before your day in court.
  - austenallred 4y ago
    You have no idea how much I'm _yearning_ for a day in court. The problem is it costs millions of dollars to get to that point.
  - shytey 4y ago
    You can surely see they are helping a lot of people, in addition to what you believe on the negative side of things. Not trying to be snippy or offer a trick question, but genuinely, what do you get out of this? Surely it's not worth your time. Even if he is the biggest scammer on the planet you are probably better off spending your time on constructive things.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - hitekker 4y ago
      Nice try. The same question applies to you, since you’ve jumped from one comment thread to another defending a sketchy business in the midst of a downfall.
      - shytey 4y ago
        Fair point!

austenallred 4y ago

I will happily defend everything I’ve said in a courtroom if necessary.

gamblor956 4y ago
- bigDinosaur 4y ago
  This seems unnecessarily aggressive as a general comment. Part of what makes HN interesting is the CEO's (and other high profile individuals at least in the tech industry) that sometimes comment. Certainly I think a CEO should have the time to write something on HN.
- chrisfosterelli 4y ago
  Is that how we now treat execs who bother to come directly address criticism aimed at their companies on HN? This is one the few places on the web that happens. You can still disagree with him if you want, but coming here to talk with us directly is respectable IMO. Focus on the arguments and not ad hominem.
  - gamblor956 4y ago
    If he's going to lie, yes.
    - austenallred 4y ago
      Feel free to point out where I lie
      - effingwewt 4y ago
        austenallred 4y ago
        The fact that we changed our name because of a trademark lawsuit is a matter of public record https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/4:2019cv04060/344815?amp https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/4:2019cv...
        dzader 4y ago
        dang 4y ago
        You can't attack others like this here, regardless of whom you're attacking. We ban accounts that do it, so please don't do it again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html To answer the obvious rejoinder: no, we don't do this because someone is a YC founder—it's actually the opposite. We moderate less, not more, when YC or a YC startup is in the story: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20moderate%20%22less%2C%20not%20more%22&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu.... But "less" doesn't mean "not", and if we allow "you're such a scumbag liar" then we might as well not have any guidelines at all. Please don't post like this again.
        austenallred 4y ago
        Hmm, it is interesting to me that sometimes when clear evidence conflicts with an existing mental model it’s easier to create imaginary evidence than to adjust the mental model.
- austenallred 4y ago
  That's a totally fair question. When we were a much smaller company I would take a lot of time to respond to communicate with folks directly, and I learned a lot from it, and think everyone benefited from that level of direct communication. As we got bigger we got an expensive PR firm who built a big wall around me and put everything I said through review 8 times to massage it for _just the right tone_. There are too many other variables to know whether that was the right move or not, but it always felt wrong to me. I now regard that as a mistake, as I do many other "big company" things we did. (Broadly, my mental model for success was that we needed to grow up and become a "big company." Now I'm of the opinion that to be a successful company should actively fight against everything that feels "big company." Fewer meetings, more focus on the little details, etc.) So I don't know that it will work, but I'm intentionally carving out time to keep my ear to the ground and be responsive directly.
sandofsky 4y ago
I will bet $1,000 to the charity of your choice that you will settle your personal lawsuit— the one on this very matter— before your day in court.
- austenallred 4y ago
  You have no idea how much I'm _yearning_ for a day in court. The problem is it costs millions of dollars to get to that point.
- shytey 4y ago
  You can surely see they are helping a lot of people, in addition to what you believe on the negative side of things. Not trying to be snippy or offer a trick question, but genuinely, what do you get out of this? Surely it's not worth your time. Even if he is the biggest scammer on the planet you are probably better off spending your time on constructive things.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - hitekker 4y ago
    Nice try. The same question applies to you, since you’ve jumped from one comment thread to another defending a sketchy business in the midst of a downfall.
    - shytey 4y ago
      Fair point!