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Shameless plug; I'm building FaangSupport[0] to try to solve this issue, did a Show HN[1] to try and get some feedback but It didn't get enough traction; Most I

Shameless plug; I'm building FaangSupport[0] to try to solve this issue, did a Show HN[1] to try and get some feedback but It didn't get enough traction; Most Important Feedback I needed is whether my idea is even legal. But I believe we have to democratize accesss to customer support for Faang. [0] https://faangsupport.com https://faangsupport.com [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36899787 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36899787

mschild 3y ago
That's a pretty neat idea. Obviously might be a challenge to find enough volunteers and this is unfortunately really only a bandaid on the actual problem. Curious to know why you included a login with Google account though. Feels like they're particularly well known for disabling accounts.
- TimCTRL 3y ago
  Thanks! And true, the service is only good if Fanng/Fortune500 employees signup. I agree, its only a bandaid because Faang needs to step-up to solve this. I think the only reason I added Login with google is that it's frictionless, just to enable users quickly setup accounts.
  - iLoveOncall 3y ago
    > the service is only good if Fanng/Fortune500 employees signup Make it a paid service. It's the only way it will work. People may be willing to spend a few minutes of their weekend or evening to help when it's a front-page post on HackerNews, but nobody will voluntarily waste their free time helping strangers at an industrial scale on what will end up being 99% stupid issues.
    - resolutebat 3y ago
      I would be very surprised if FAANGs permit their employees to moonlight like this.
      - timdierks 3y ago
        I work for a FAANG and it's a violation of company policy for me to profit from privileges associated with my employment.
        TimCTRL 3y ago
        That's why I was wondering whether the service would be legal. Thanks
        iLoveOncall 3y ago
        Company policies aren't laws. Employees could be fired over it, but some would definitely take the risk, as they already do with providing mock interview services, moonlighting without receiving formal authorization, having 2 jobs, etc.
      - iLoveOncall 3y ago
        Of course it would be forbidden, the same way it's forbidden to sell mock interview services, yet they florish.
    - TimCTRL 3y ago
      Makes sense
felixgallo 3y ago
not speaking for Amazon or any other FAANG entity, but one fun and important thing to do when thinking of an idea is to imagine the risks and downsides. For example, let's say someone uses your service to steal money or personal information from unwitting customers who think they're dealing with official 'FAANG support', or the bad actor provides erroneous information that ends up causing harm or death. Where do you think that open-ended liability would be assigned, were the legal system(s) to get involved? For another, let's assume for a moment that there's an unfilled demand for FAANG support. Most interesting support calls likely require customer identification and also, crucially, internal backend access (e.g. to account systems, server logs, billing systems, and so on). Your site will not have that capability. That limits you to the boring support calls, which might as well be a wiki or stackoverflow, raising the question of whether you were able to address this unfilled demand.
- TimCTRL 3y ago
  Exactly, I did think of all this, especially about the Security implications of running such a service, another example, what happens when said Faang Employee leaves Faang and does not explicitly say so but keeps representing the former company. Thanks for your feedback. This is why I thought I should get feedback before coding further.

mschild 3y ago

That's a pretty neat idea. Obviously might be a challenge to find enough volunteers and this is unfortunately really only a bandaid on the actual problem. Curious to know why you included a login with Google account though. Feels like they're particularly well known for disabling accounts.

TimCTRL 3y ago
Thanks! And true, the service is only good if Fanng/Fortune500 employees signup. I agree, its only a bandaid because Faang needs to step-up to solve this. I think the only reason I added Login with google is that it's frictionless, just to enable users quickly setup accounts.
- iLoveOncall 3y ago
  > the service is only good if Fanng/Fortune500 employees signup Make it a paid service. It's the only way it will work. People may be willing to spend a few minutes of their weekend or evening to help when it's a front-page post on HackerNews, but nobody will voluntarily waste their free time helping strangers at an industrial scale on what will end up being 99% stupid issues.
  - resolutebat 3y ago
    I would be very surprised if FAANGs permit their employees to moonlight like this.
    - timdierks 3y ago
      I work for a FAANG and it's a violation of company policy for me to profit from privileges associated with my employment.
      - TimCTRL 3y ago
        That's why I was wondering whether the service would be legal. Thanks
        iLoveOncall 3y ago
        Company policies aren't laws. Employees could be fired over it, but some would definitely take the risk, as they already do with providing mock interview services, moonlighting without receiving formal authorization, having 2 jobs, etc.
    - iLoveOncall 3y ago
      Of course it would be forbidden, the same way it's forbidden to sell mock interview services, yet they florish.
  - TimCTRL 3y ago
    Makes sense

felixgallo 3y ago

not speaking for Amazon or any other FAANG entity, but one fun and important thing to do when thinking of an idea is to imagine the risks and downsides. For example, let's say someone uses your service to steal money or personal information from unwitting customers who think they're dealing with official 'FAANG support', or the bad actor provides erroneous information that ends up causing harm or death. Where do you think that open-ended liability would be assigned, were the legal system(s) to get involved? For another, let's assume for a moment that there's an unfilled demand for FAANG support. Most interesting support calls likely require customer identification and also, crucially, internal backend access (e.g. to account systems, server logs, billing systems, and so on). Your site will not have that capability. That limits you to the boring support calls, which might as well be a wiki or stackoverflow, raising the question of whether you were able to address this unfilled demand.

TimCTRL 3y ago
Exactly, I did think of all this, especially about the Security implications of running such a service, another example, what happens when said Faang Employee leaves Faang and does not explicitly say so but keeps representing the former company. Thanks for your feedback. This is why I thought I should get feedback before coding further.