27 ms·

i dont think that's unethical - provided that no copyright is violated. Ideas are not copyrightable, and surely they do not have a patent on sites like replit.

by chii 2y ago

coolThingsFirst 2y ago
Let's put it this way some CEO spent years finding a product market fit and they hire you - they pay you and let you have access to their internal conversations and ideas and you suddenly brainstorm a project with uncanny resemblance to what the company is making - that in my view is stealing IP and is very unethical and shady behavior.
- michaelmrose 2y ago
  What IP did they steal. Please be specific.
- ArdentAardvark 2y ago
  It just isn't. You're allowed to make products that compete with products already on the market, even if you've worked for the company making that product. Unless there's specific IP that was stolen, I don't see how this is in any way unethical or shady. They hired you to develop that product, and you did. Nowhere in that contract is anything saying you can never use what you learned elsewhere. They'd need to pay you significantly more than what they paid you (which they won't). And there are great reasons why non-competes are basically invalid in most places.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    > Unless there's specific IP that was stolen, To wit, stealing trade secrets is recognized as an actual crime, and got someone 8 years of jail for trying to sell the formula for Coca-cola to Pepsi.
- strunz 2y ago
  Strange logic. Would you consider it unethical for former Google employees to start their own search engine? Or to quit and go work for Bing? Assuming they aren't stealing code this happens in every industry. Can former Ford employees not work for Chevy? I don't see the difference.
rvnx 2y ago
It can be unethical without being illegal. When I work for a company, I don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge, I just find something else to do (and that's probably why I'm not rich :D), but it's the most elegant thing to do. Zuckerberg is a famous example of such behaviour. I think this Radon is talented too (good tech + doesn't wait for others to give permission + very interesting ideas), and what he did is probably okay-ish, a bit borderline but still on the ok-side (he seems more like a fan of Repl.it than anything). I just wouldn't go til the point where I complain about it publicly.
- consp 2y ago
  > don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge That is a very common way to do a spin off. Usually it involves some patents or non public knowledge and you make an agreement with the original company for it. But when it is all open there is nothing, legal or moral (in my opinion), from stopping you from making your own spinoff. Companies don't care about you, you shouldn't care about them.
- kwhitefoot 2y ago
  > don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge, If everyone followed this rule there would be no Fairchild and no Intel.
  - ArdentAardvark 2y ago
    There'd be nothing. A lot of competitors have come about from people starting companies to compete in the same field. All of the modern gaming industry is basically based on disenfranchised game developers starting their own companies.
- ArdentAardvark 2y ago
  I don't understand at all why this would be unethical. Maybe I'm working for a company making a product I have expertise for and I'm passionate about, but they're making decisions that I feel make it worse for users unnecessarily. I leave and start my own competing product to do it my own way that I consider to be the better way. This isn't unethical. This is the nature of all competition everywhere going back as far as anybody can remember. I've stolen nothing at all, so I'm not sure on what basis it would be unethical. And if it's a topic or industry I have expertise and knowledge of, why would I throw that all away just because I worked for a company where I used that expertise and knowledge? That's basically implying that we're all "ethically" subject to non-competes for the rest of our lives after working for a company making a particular kind of product. That's clearly and absolutely "inelegant", to use your phrasing.

i dont think that's unethical - provided that no copyright is violated. Ideas are not copyrightable, and surely they do not have a patent on sites like replit.

by chii 2y ago

i dont think that's unethical - provided that no copyright is violated. Ideas are not copyrightable, and surely they do not have a patent on sites like replit.

coolThingsFirst 2y ago

Let's put it this way some CEO spent years finding a product market fit and they hire you - they pay you and let you have access to their internal conversations and ideas and you suddenly brainstorm a project with uncanny resemblance to what the company is making - that in my view is stealing IP and is very unethical and shady behavior.

michaelmrose 2y ago
What IP did they steal. Please be specific.
ArdentAardvark 2y ago
It just isn't. You're allowed to make products that compete with products already on the market, even if you've worked for the company making that product. Unless there's specific IP that was stolen, I don't see how this is in any way unethical or shady. They hired you to develop that product, and you did. Nowhere in that contract is anything saying you can never use what you learned elsewhere. They'd need to pay you significantly more than what they paid you (which they won't). And there are great reasons why non-competes are basically invalid in most places.
- fragmede 2y ago
  > Unless there's specific IP that was stolen, To wit, stealing trade secrets is recognized as an actual crime, and got someone 8 years of jail for trying to sell the formula for Coca-cola to Pepsi.
strunz 2y ago
Strange logic. Would you consider it unethical for former Google employees to start their own search engine? Or to quit and go work for Bing? Assuming they aren't stealing code this happens in every industry. Can former Ford employees not work for Chevy? I don't see the difference.

rvnx 2y ago

It can be unethical without being illegal. When I work for a company, I don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge, I just find something else to do (and that's probably why I'm not rich :D), but it's the most elegant thing to do. Zuckerberg is a famous example of such behaviour. I think this Radon is talented too (good tech + doesn't wait for others to give permission + very interesting ideas), and what he did is probably okay-ish, a bit borderline but still on the ok-side (he seems more like a fan of Repl.it than anything). I just wouldn't go til the point where I complain about it publicly.

consp 2y ago
> don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge That is a very common way to do a spin off. Usually it involves some patents or non public knowledge and you make an agreement with the original company for it. But when it is all open there is nothing, legal or moral (in my opinion), from stopping you from making your own spinoff. Companies don't care about you, you shouldn't care about them.
kwhitefoot 2y ago
> don't spin-off that company using corporate knowledge, If everyone followed this rule there would be no Fairchild and no Intel.
- ArdentAardvark 2y ago
  There'd be nothing. A lot of competitors have come about from people starting companies to compete in the same field. All of the modern gaming industry is basically based on disenfranchised game developers starting their own companies.
ArdentAardvark 2y ago
I don't understand at all why this would be unethical. Maybe I'm working for a company making a product I have expertise for and I'm passionate about, but they're making decisions that I feel make it worse for users unnecessarily. I leave and start my own competing product to do it my own way that I consider to be the better way. This isn't unethical. This is the nature of all competition everywhere going back as far as anybody can remember. I've stolen nothing at all, so I'm not sure on what basis it would be unethical. And if it's a topic or industry I have expertise and knowledge of, why would I throw that all away just because I worked for a company where I used that expertise and knowledge? That's basically implying that we're all "ethically" subject to non-competes for the rest of our lives after working for a company making a particular kind of product. That's clearly and absolutely "inelegant", to use your phrasing.