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I'm Michael and this was about me. This person never reached out for comment and is missing half the story. I'm happy to fill people in on the rest if this pers

I'm Michael and this was about me. This person never reached out for comment and is missing half the story. I'm happy to fill people in on the rest if this person or someone else wants to hear. I agree with one or two of the characterizations but the majority I don't and there is a lot more to this story than it seems... RE: INDUSTRY. Rithm School (their main competitor) shut down. Hack Reactor is down to single digit cohorts allegedly. Launch School is slowing down from 3 cohorts a year to 2. Numerous other bootcamps have shut down. Codesmith's decline is predominantly an industry problem. RE: CODESMITH. For starters as an example, Codesmith's website, email, and entire AWS account was down for 3 weeks because they got locked out from not updating their credit card and then losing the root password and their 2-factor was a phone number. This is unacceptable. Yet they market themselves as similar outcomes to elite grad schools and it's very reasonable to challenge them on their hyperbolic marketing. Both sides of the story need to be heard before making a judgement.

rvitorper 1y ago
You don’t know when to stop, do you?
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - rvitorper 1y ago
    One thing is a critic based on verifiable facts. Another thing is defending yourself. A third one is coming up with bad things nobody can verify. Your post mixes these things
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - baobun 1y ago
        This is some fourth thing... What does anything there have to do with any of the questions people in this thread are asking you? I don't see anything there that adds anything to the story except solidifying the picture of you as an obsessive stalker. It certainly doesn't help your case. In case I overlooked some key detail, please point it out.
      - user_7832 1y ago
        I haven't verified the numbers, but I'll take them as correct for now. I can understand wanting to make such an analysis if you had skin in the game, and cautioning people, if you were a student who was disappointed or similar. However by your own admission you're a co founder of a "interview prep mentorship platform" (which you claim is not a bootcamp) - fine, I can admit they are slightly different - though this does feel like splitting hairs semantically. What I don't understand is, how is your position as a mod on such a subreddit not a massive conflict of interest? You have no reason to dissuade people from another company unless it hurts your business (I'm guessing you or someone in your family didn't lose time or money on codesmith). Ergo, if you can, please do tell me why your activity isn't financially motivated, and therefore tortious interference. I see no other reason for a person to obsessively track another company in detail (baring a few health conditions I wouldn't want to wish on anyone.)
  - sunshowers 1y ago
    Hi Michael. We overlapped significantly at Facebook and chatted a few times (I was on the source control team from 2012-2018ish, part of which was the migration to Mercurial). Correct me if I'm wrong, but you wrote some posts about how you wanted something like git rebase -i, right? I know your heart is in the right place, and have a great deal of respect for you. I think being the most active moderator of a coding bootcamp subreddit while also running one is probably not the best use of your time, right? Even though I know you're being honest, just the appearance of a conflict of interest can be an issue. Why not find someone else to take over the reins, someone who isn't actively involved in the industry?
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      Hi. I don't run a bootcamp. I recommended people go to Codesmith too and there's a lot more to this story. It's missing half the context.
      - ryanmerket 1y ago
        Bud, your LinkedIn of you and your wife say you are founders of a bootcamp.
        michaelnovati 1y ago
        Where does it say that?
        exogeny 1y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 You literally say it yourself! Christ, man. Stop digging. You fucked up, stop moderating, and move on.
        oeirugjoiwejo 1y ago
        His github shows it as place of work. Also from his HN comment history: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 > Hi, I'm the co-founder of Formation Oops.
  - cap11235 1y ago
    Dramatic much?
kitsune1 1y ago
[dead]
chews 1y ago
Do they though? Being a reddit mod for a sub that covers an industry you have a vested interest in with no other mods with similar backgrounds really does sound like a well traffic'd and successful bully pulpit.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  My company works with a lot of bootcamp grads later on in their careers so wouldn't I have an interest in promoting bootcamps so more people go and create more customers down the road? I recommended a bunch of people go to Codesmith until February 2024, when the first signs of collapsed started.
  - saxelsen 1y ago
    A person with integrity would have promoted bootcamps and recused themselves from smearing competitors.
fny 1y ago
If you really cared, this should have started with: "I am stepping down as the moderator..." Even though you have counter claims, you moderating the forum for your industry is problematic. You also seem keen to chime in about a competitor when you should be impartial and allow users to discuss their experiences alone. Yes there are two sides to every story, but in no universe should you be the mod of that subreddit.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  This is not my industry, no. Had the author reached out for comment they could publish my claims. More interested in a hit piece than the truth.
  - 4bpp 1y ago
    Even if we accept all your claims at face value, your behaviour in your capacity as the moderator of that subreddit was still immoral. However you feel about it, being a moderator is a voluntary responsibility which comes with an expectation of impartiality and service at the expense of, not in furtherance of, your personal goals. At best, if everything you say is true, what you are doing is akin to proudly volunteering as a firefighter so that you can slow-walk the response if a fire is ever reported at the NXIVM HQ. Your crusade against NXIVM may be righteous, and it might even be universally considered a net good if its HQ were to burn down, but it would still raise a lot of eyebrows if it came out that you intended to use your position in that fashion. edit: To be clear, I sympathise with your claim that you are being subjected to a one-sided hit, and am starting to feel uneasy with the dogpiling atmosphere that is building in this subthread. However, it is understandable to me why this is happening - fundamentally, Reddit has become a town square that is really not engineered correctly to be one. In a town square, people want to choose their leaders, but subreddits are by design "storefronts", in which leaders (moderators) choose their people. This tension is resolved by a very unpleasant jerry-rigged substitute for democratic control: the one way you can "vote out" a moderator (who has the backing or indifference of everyone above him) is to apply psychological pressure, or other harm (such as the reputational damage your company is no doubt taking as we speak), until they crack and resign. This is sort of democratic because larger fractions of the "electorate" can achieve it more easily, but even turning up to such a "vote" that you ultimately lose entails social violence. It doesn't seem like you are willing to resign, nor to put your moderator status up for a community vote (if that could even be made fair, after you presumably banned a lot of would-be voters, and conversely could accuse the other side of botting/brigading). What other options do those who do not want the town square to be moderated by you have?
deleted 1y ago
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- deleted 1y ago
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baubino 1y ago
You’re doing the same thing here that the article is accusing you of doing on Reddit.
FridayoLeary 1y ago
Hello. It's nice to be able to interact directly with the subject of the article, so thanks for coming on. It's a shame you're being downvoted, because it would definitely be interesting to hear your perspective. This can't be a pleasant experience for you. I have a couple of questions for you. Firstly the article really didn't hold back about you in a way that you don't usually see. But he makes very specific and verifiable claims. The owner blames the market for 40% of their decline and you for another 40%. You have made over 400 negative comments about the company over the last couple of years. You run the subreddit as a bad faith mod, and you run a rival company so you have an interest in the decline of codesmith. Those are some of the accusations laid against you by the article. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say about them. Obviously i don't expect you to say anything that might create legal issues for yourself. But you have opinions that youre not shy of expressing. The article was perhaps not wholly neutral so maybe you can clarify your side of the story. Do you have a specific problem with codesmith? why do you care so much about them? Is it because they are competitiors? Do you take such an active role on reddit in order to promote your own interests, outside of creating and maintaining a better community? To be clear i'm a completely random guy with no skin in the game, just looking for answers. [edit to reply: There is no plausible scenario that my life will depend on the answer. Literally the only reason i'm on here is for casual chit chat. Frankly, this might be life changing for some people, but i'm really not too invested in the story so i don't mind opening some dialogue in good faith from my end.]
- bluishgreen 1y ago
  You should be able to identify badfaith because your life depends on it. Otherwise you will drown in a pit of bothsides. Bad way to go. Next we should hear from the counter party is from a court filing. Not here. This is well past having a chill chat on hackernews.
- ctippett 1y ago
  This is a wonderfully mature and constructive comment. I appreciate this is off-topic, but I really wanted to highlight/praise what you'd written. It came across to me as very "HN" and the guidelines appear to corroborate this... > Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.
malfist 1y ago
> RE: CODESMITH. For starters as an example, Codesmith's website, email, and entire AWS account was down for 3 weeks because they got locked out from not updating their credit card and then losing the root password and their 2-factor was a phone number. This is unacceptable. Everything I can find online, including your post on reddit about the outage, says the outage was for 4 days. Not 3 weeks. I'll also note that your post on reddit about the outage was phrased as if you were a student impacted by the outage, going so far as to say it was your "final straw" even though you don't have skin in the game other than as a competitor.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  It was 3 weeks.
  - ryanmerket 1y ago
    do you think maybe they could have kept it up if they didn't layoff 80% of their staff because of your modding? reddit is essentially google results at this point, don't act coy.
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      That's not correct. Their closest competitor entirely shut down for example, and the industry is the main factor responsible for their decline. They laid off their Future Code (a completely funded program by the city of NY) overnight with no warning - some of the most dedicated staff.
      - malfist 1y ago
        Friend, take a look at how you're phrasing things. If we boil down your statement to just the facts we see: * Industry wide layoffs are happening. * This company had a layoff. * This company did not tell their workers they were being laid off in advance. But that's not how you phrased it. You dismissed concerns about your biases by saying there are industry wide layoffs, and then in the exact next sentence castigated codesmith for having a layoff. Those statements don't align, that everyone is having layoffs and it's no big deal, and codesmith is having layoffs and it's a big deal. Futher you add charged language about no notice, which is perfectly standard, and an assertion you can't possibly know, about codesmith having "the most dedicated staff". That's just not something you have context to state and its only purpose is to inflame and paint the worst possible picture. In the words of Ron Swanson: Son, people can see you
simianwords 1y ago
I would really like to hear both sides to the story. But from the data it seems like you have been obsessively commenting on the subreddit about codesmith for more than a full year. And almost 80% have been negative. This looks unhinged because you are a moderator of the subreddit. What's the other side to this?
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  I was being threatened by anonymous Reddit accounts a few weeks ago so I made some defensive PR docs but I need to sleep on it to decide what to do. This is what I do all day: https://github.com/mnovati https://github.com/mnovati But yeah two sides to every story and if this has been going on for years, "1000 posts", there's clearly more to the story, and it's irresponsible to not reach out for comment if you are going to try to summarize that.
  - malfist 1y ago
    Is that what you do all day? Its trivially easy to make a profile look like yours, its a lot harder to actually have an average of 28 commits a day every day for a year with zero days off. Not for weekends, not for vacations, not for sickness. All in completely private repositories
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      It's real code.
      - collingreen 1y ago
        Well that proves it!
        weeznerps 1y ago
        The archetype of "Coding Machine" for senior staff engineers at FB was created because of this guy: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-coding-machine-at-meta https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-coding-machin... I have one of these types on my team and the level of productivity is shocking.
bakugo 1y ago
> Both sides of the story need to be heard before making a judgement. Your side begins and ends at being a reddit moderator for an industry subreddit while working in said industry as a CTO. Anything you say or do in this position should rightfully be assumed to be biased.
SilverElfin 1y ago
Are you planning to write something up about it? It would be interesting to hear the other side that you’re hinting at. It’s also not clear to me if the person who wrote this article was paid for it or if they’re somehow affiliated with someone involved. It says they’re a “Fractional VP of Content”. I’m curious if you know more.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  I might. I have hordes of documents. It's a really sad situation and very sad that he characterized this this way without even talking to me whatsoever.
  - GenerWork 1y ago
    I believe the phrase that applies here is "put up or shut up". If you have hordes of documents to draw on as primary sources, then it should be pretty simple (but perhaps time consuming) to write a rebuttal.
    - cap11235 1y ago
      I have the concept of a plan. /s
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - malfist 1y ago
        I don't see any links to those hordes of documents in this response. Could you please provide some, like you claim to have?
      - Montymio 1y ago
        just gonna guess here. Were you “invited” because you had signed up with Codesmith under an alias and then received a standard event invite? because it doesn’t sound like anyone at Codesmith would be personally inviting you.
darksaints 1y ago
I hope he sues you.
- sowbug 1y ago
  https://www.google.com/search?q=intentional+interference+with+prospective+economic+advantage https://www.google.com/search?q=intentional+interference+wit...
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    Would posting to 20,000 people telling them that I was using multiple Slack aliases to 'steal students' from Codesmith's community - which was entirely and utterly false in every aspect of that statement - count under this definition?
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - sowbug 1y ago
      If you believe that happened, your belief provides a motive for many of the actions that the linked article attributes to you. This makes the overall story easier for us readers to understand. To that extent, it might be relevant. But you'd want to consult a lawyer about it.
deleted 1y ago
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whatever1 1y ago
Oh you are gonna taste your own medicine here. Welcome.
- bapak 1y ago
  He's not losing millions of dollars by being here. A taste of his own medicine should be given in court.
4bpp 1y ago
Your post does not really do much to dispel the negative picture that the opening article paints of you. You say their decline is "predominantly an industry problem". Is this also the case for your own company, Formation? You went on the record comparing Codesmith to a sex cult and accusing it of deceiving and exploiting its students and evidently consider criticising them to be a mission worth years of near-daily dedication, and the only example you have to offer to justify this in a thread where people question your motives for this is... some random anecdote about them having an IT fuckup? This doesn't read as if you have a coherent case that Codesmith is bad to an extent that justifies your single-minded effort to spread this message, but as either an attempt to throw more FUD at the wall in the hope that something sticks even in this forum, or an indication that you are not quite well.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  I compared the statement 'do this because it changed my life and the life of many others' to the type of language used in cult documentaries on HBO. I stand by that opinion. Codesmith is not a sex cult. I can't believe I'm writing that sentence.
  - crummy 1y ago
    > I compared the statement 'do this because it changed my life and the life of many others' to the type of language used in cult documentaries on HBO why did you make that comparison?
    - michaelnovati 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - sesm 1y ago
        What happened in 2024 that changed your mind?
        1y ago
AmazingTurtle 1y ago
Even if codesmith _was_ objectively bad, I am still wondering _why_ do you spend _so much time_ shittalking that company on every fucking occasion? Reddit, HN, LinkedIn. You are putting way too much energy into that, way more than the average person would objectively care. Makes me wonder.
- Montymio 1y ago
  a judge would def consider the extreme nature that’s occurred here. the number of posts is astounding, and the SEO damage could be monetarily accounted for.
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    FWIW those posts that show up in search are not my posts and I don't have control over that. I don't "post" that much about Codesmith. I comment a lot about them.
    - muppetman 1y ago
      A comment about them is still a post about them. This comment I'm writing, for example, is _also_ a post about what an unethical person you are and how your inability to understand or apologise for your behaviour says EVERYTHING we need to know about you. Or would you say I didn't post what an unethical person you are, I only commented about it?
    - stuaxo 1y ago
      Semantics. Question still stands, why are you writing (posting or commenting) this almost every day. I can't imagine being so obsessed by something for that long that I comment on it almost every day.
    - jibal 1y ago
      > I don't have control over that. You're a moderator. It's hard to assume good faith about anything you say.
    - Hamuko 1y ago
thisisit 1y ago
> Numerous other bootcamps have shut down. Codesmith's decline is predominantly an industry problem. In that case can you share the user stats for the sub? Because if coding boot camp as an industry is dying the growth of the sub should have also slowed down or plateaued, right?
JonoBB 1y ago
You’re trying to defend yourself, but you still can’t stop yourself from casting shade on Codesmith multiple times in this very comment. You have just proved that Lars is spot on with his analysis that you are an obsessive stalker.
stevev 1y ago
No doubt the industry suffered due to a market downturn, but your continuous posts and attacks worsened the situation for that company. Based on your Reddit activity, it appears to have been driven by a personal vendetta. If they pursue a defamation case, the evidence could strongly work against you. The overwhelming proof he presented of your actions toward the company would be difficult to defend. I honestly can’t understand why anyone would risk their own reputation—and that of their family—for dishonest gain. Most people are civil in such cases, but not everyone is if they conclude that evil was done. Scary situation to be in.
mda 1y ago
You should have never started moderating that subreddit because of the conflict of interest, it is completely unacceptable.
deleted 1y ago
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IamOC 1y ago
Hey Fuck You Michael, you are a piece of shit and no one should get to know you. Just got aware what shitty people exist in this field
- truakon89 1y ago
  His responses here and on reddit remind me of Karoline Levitt responding to press.
  - IamOC 1y ago
    Yep, this man is just pure evil you can see that on his head. Everyone says the same lol he researched best thing to share this up with if someone catches him red hand
shaderguy1416 1y ago
I've been trying to comment and post on reddit u/codingbootcamp and nothing goes through completely suppress by the mod. My comments are removed and i can't even make a post. I'm following all guide lines and nothing goes through. Here is something I posted. I want to raise a concern about moderator conduct. I have evidence (screenshots and permalinks) that suggests a moderator may have accessed and referenced private information about former employees and their family members. That kind of behavior would be unethical and could violate subreddit policy on harassment/privacy. Mods: please confirm whether these actions occurred and, if so, what steps you will take. I’m happy to provide the evidence via modmail.
fakebizprez 1y ago
Hey Michael -- you're a fucking loser.
PhilWatts 1y ago
There are people coming forward with evidence on Michael Novati’s digital stalking. One previous instructor at code smith(who also worked at Microsoft at the time), said he was digitally stalked, Michael Novati found his employment history and kept calling him out publicly so he would get into trouble with Microsoft. All this despite the person having clearance from Microsoft to work as an instructor at codesmith. With the twisted logic I see this guy using here, I would assume he doesn’t even see this as digital stalking. I guess that’s what being the “number 1 code commiter at Meta”(according to his linkedin) would do to you.

rvitorper 1y ago

You don’t know when to stop, do you?

michaelnovati 1y ago
[flagged]
- rvitorper 1y ago
  One thing is a critic based on verifiable facts. Another thing is defending yourself. A third one is coming up with bad things nobody can verify. Your post mixes these things
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - baobun 1y ago
      This is some fourth thing... What does anything there have to do with any of the questions people in this thread are asking you? I don't see anything there that adds anything to the story except solidifying the picture of you as an obsessive stalker. It certainly doesn't help your case. In case I overlooked some key detail, please point it out.
    - user_7832 1y ago
      I haven't verified the numbers, but I'll take them as correct for now. I can understand wanting to make such an analysis if you had skin in the game, and cautioning people, if you were a student who was disappointed or similar. However by your own admission you're a co founder of a "interview prep mentorship platform" (which you claim is not a bootcamp) - fine, I can admit they are slightly different - though this does feel like splitting hairs semantically. What I don't understand is, how is your position as a mod on such a subreddit not a massive conflict of interest? You have no reason to dissuade people from another company unless it hurts your business (I'm guessing you or someone in your family didn't lose time or money on codesmith). Ergo, if you can, please do tell me why your activity isn't financially motivated, and therefore tortious interference. I see no other reason for a person to obsessively track another company in detail (baring a few health conditions I wouldn't want to wish on anyone.)
- sunshowers 1y ago
  Hi Michael. We overlapped significantly at Facebook and chatted a few times (I was on the source control team from 2012-2018ish, part of which was the migration to Mercurial). Correct me if I'm wrong, but you wrote some posts about how you wanted something like git rebase -i, right? I know your heart is in the right place, and have a great deal of respect for you. I think being the most active moderator of a coding bootcamp subreddit while also running one is probably not the best use of your time, right? Even though I know you're being honest, just the appearance of a conflict of interest can be an issue. Why not find someone else to take over the reins, someone who isn't actively involved in the industry?
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    Hi. I don't run a bootcamp. I recommended people go to Codesmith too and there's a lot more to this story. It's missing half the context.
    - ryanmerket 1y ago
      Bud, your LinkedIn of you and your wife say you are founders of a bootcamp.
      - michaelnovati 1y ago
        Where does it say that?
        exogeny 1y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 You literally say it yourself! Christ, man. Stop digging. You fucked up, stop moderating, and move on.
      - oeirugjoiwejo 1y ago
        His github shows it as place of work. Also from his HN comment history: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43758527 > Hi, I'm the co-founder of Formation Oops.
- cap11235 1y ago
  Dramatic much?

kitsune1 1y ago

[dead]

chews 1y ago

Do they though? Being a reddit mod for a sub that covers an industry you have a vested interest in with no other mods with similar backgrounds really does sound like a well traffic'd and successful bully pulpit.

michaelnovati 1y ago
My company works with a lot of bootcamp grads later on in their careers so wouldn't I have an interest in promoting bootcamps so more people go and create more customers down the road? I recommended a bunch of people go to Codesmith until February 2024, when the first signs of collapsed started.
- saxelsen 1y ago
  A person with integrity would have promoted bootcamps and recused themselves from smearing competitors.

fny 1y ago

If you really cared, this should have started with: "I am stepping down as the moderator..." Even though you have counter claims, you moderating the forum for your industry is problematic. You also seem keen to chime in about a competitor when you should be impartial and allow users to discuss their experiences alone. Yes there are two sides to every story, but in no universe should you be the mod of that subreddit.

michaelnovati 1y ago
This is not my industry, no. Had the author reached out for comment they could publish my claims. More interested in a hit piece than the truth.
- 4bpp 1y ago
  Even if we accept all your claims at face value, your behaviour in your capacity as the moderator of that subreddit was still immoral. However you feel about it, being a moderator is a voluntary responsibility which comes with an expectation of impartiality and service at the expense of, not in furtherance of, your personal goals. At best, if everything you say is true, what you are doing is akin to proudly volunteering as a firefighter so that you can slow-walk the response if a fire is ever reported at the NXIVM HQ. Your crusade against NXIVM may be righteous, and it might even be universally considered a net good if its HQ were to burn down, but it would still raise a lot of eyebrows if it came out that you intended to use your position in that fashion. edit: To be clear, I sympathise with your claim that you are being subjected to a one-sided hit, and am starting to feel uneasy with the dogpiling atmosphere that is building in this subthread. However, it is understandable to me why this is happening - fundamentally, Reddit has become a town square that is really not engineered correctly to be one. In a town square, people want to choose their leaders, but subreddits are by design "storefronts", in which leaders (moderators) choose their people. This tension is resolved by a very unpleasant jerry-rigged substitute for democratic control: the one way you can "vote out" a moderator (who has the backing or indifference of everyone above him) is to apply psychological pressure, or other harm (such as the reputational damage your company is no doubt taking as we speak), until they crack and resign. This is sort of democratic because larger fractions of the "electorate" can achieve it more easily, but even turning up to such a "vote" that you ultimately lose entails social violence. It doesn't seem like you are willing to resign, nor to put your moderator status up for a community vote (if that could even be made fair, after you presumably banned a lot of would-be voters, and conversely could accuse the other side of botting/brigading). What other options do those who do not want the town square to be moderated by you have?

deleted 1y ago

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baubino 1y ago

You’re doing the same thing here that the article is accusing you of doing on Reddit.

FridayoLeary 1y ago

Hello. It's nice to be able to interact directly with the subject of the article, so thanks for coming on. It's a shame you're being downvoted, because it would definitely be interesting to hear your perspective. This can't be a pleasant experience for you. I have a couple of questions for you. Firstly the article really didn't hold back about you in a way that you don't usually see. But he makes very specific and verifiable claims. The owner blames the market for 40% of their decline and you for another 40%. You have made over 400 negative comments about the company over the last couple of years. You run the subreddit as a bad faith mod, and you run a rival company so you have an interest in the decline of codesmith. Those are some of the accusations laid against you by the article. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say about them. Obviously i don't expect you to say anything that might create legal issues for yourself. But you have opinions that youre not shy of expressing. The article was perhaps not wholly neutral so maybe you can clarify your side of the story. Do you have a specific problem with codesmith? why do you care so much about them? Is it because they are competitiors? Do you take such an active role on reddit in order to promote your own interests, outside of creating and maintaining a better community? To be clear i'm a completely random guy with no skin in the game, just looking for answers. [edit to reply: There is no plausible scenario that my life will depend on the answer. Literally the only reason i'm on here is for casual chit chat. Frankly, this might be life changing for some people, but i'm really not too invested in the story so i don't mind opening some dialogue in good faith from my end.]

bluishgreen 1y ago
You should be able to identify badfaith because your life depends on it. Otherwise you will drown in a pit of bothsides. Bad way to go. Next we should hear from the counter party is from a court filing. Not here. This is well past having a chill chat on hackernews.
ctippett 1y ago
This is a wonderfully mature and constructive comment. I appreciate this is off-topic, but I really wanted to highlight/praise what you'd written. It came across to me as very "HN" and the guidelines appear to corroborate this... > Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.

malfist 1y ago

> RE: CODESMITH. For starters as an example, Codesmith's website, email, and entire AWS account was down for 3 weeks because they got locked out from not updating their credit card and then losing the root password and their 2-factor was a phone number. This is unacceptable. Everything I can find online, including your post on reddit about the outage, says the outage was for 4 days. Not 3 weeks. I'll also note that your post on reddit about the outage was phrased as if you were a student impacted by the outage, going so far as to say it was your "final straw" even though you don't have skin in the game other than as a competitor.

michaelnovati 1y ago
It was 3 weeks.
- ryanmerket 1y ago
  do you think maybe they could have kept it up if they didn't layoff 80% of their staff because of your modding? reddit is essentially google results at this point, don't act coy.
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    That's not correct. Their closest competitor entirely shut down for example, and the industry is the main factor responsible for their decline. They laid off their Future Code (a completely funded program by the city of NY) overnight with no warning - some of the most dedicated staff.
    - malfist 1y ago
      Friend, take a look at how you're phrasing things. If we boil down your statement to just the facts we see: * Industry wide layoffs are happening. * This company had a layoff. * This company did not tell their workers they were being laid off in advance. But that's not how you phrased it. You dismissed concerns about your biases by saying there are industry wide layoffs, and then in the exact next sentence castigated codesmith for having a layoff. Those statements don't align, that everyone is having layoffs and it's no big deal, and codesmith is having layoffs and it's a big deal. Futher you add charged language about no notice, which is perfectly standard, and an assertion you can't possibly know, about codesmith having "the most dedicated staff". That's just not something you have context to state and its only purpose is to inflame and paint the worst possible picture. In the words of Ron Swanson: Son, people can see you

simianwords 1y ago

I would really like to hear both sides to the story. But from the data it seems like you have been obsessively commenting on the subreddit about codesmith for more than a full year. And almost 80% have been negative. This looks unhinged because you are a moderator of the subreddit. What's the other side to this?

michaelnovati 1y ago
I was being threatened by anonymous Reddit accounts a few weeks ago so I made some defensive PR docs but I need to sleep on it to decide what to do. This is what I do all day: https://github.com/mnovati https://github.com/mnovati But yeah two sides to every story and if this has been going on for years, "1000 posts", there's clearly more to the story, and it's irresponsible to not reach out for comment if you are going to try to summarize that.
- malfist 1y ago
  Is that what you do all day? Its trivially easy to make a profile look like yours, its a lot harder to actually have an average of 28 commits a day every day for a year with zero days off. Not for weekends, not for vacations, not for sickness. All in completely private repositories
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    It's real code.
    - collingreen 1y ago
      Well that proves it!
      - weeznerps 1y ago
        The archetype of "Coding Machine" for senior staff engineers at FB was created because of this guy: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-coding-machine-at-meta https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-coding-machin... I have one of these types on my team and the level of productivity is shocking.

bakugo 1y ago

> Both sides of the story need to be heard before making a judgement. Your side begins and ends at being a reddit moderator for an industry subreddit while working in said industry as a CTO. Anything you say or do in this position should rightfully be assumed to be biased.

SilverElfin 1y ago

Are you planning to write something up about it? It would be interesting to hear the other side that you’re hinting at. It’s also not clear to me if the person who wrote this article was paid for it or if they’re somehow affiliated with someone involved. It says they’re a “Fractional VP of Content”. I’m curious if you know more.

michaelnovati 1y ago
I might. I have hordes of documents. It's a really sad situation and very sad that he characterized this this way without even talking to me whatsoever.
- GenerWork 1y ago
  I believe the phrase that applies here is "put up or shut up". If you have hordes of documents to draw on as primary sources, then it should be pretty simple (but perhaps time consuming) to write a rebuttal.
  - cap11235 1y ago
    I have the concept of a plan. /s
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - malfist 1y ago
      I don't see any links to those hordes of documents in this response. Could you please provide some, like you claim to have?
    - Montymio 1y ago
      just gonna guess here. Were you “invited” because you had signed up with Codesmith under an alias and then received a standard event invite? because it doesn’t sound like anyone at Codesmith would be personally inviting you.

darksaints 1y ago

I hope he sues you.

sowbug 1y ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=intentional+interference+with+prospective+economic+advantage https://www.google.com/search?q=intentional+interference+wit...
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  Would posting to 20,000 people telling them that I was using multiple Slack aliases to 'steal students' from Codesmith's community - which was entirely and utterly false in every aspect of that statement - count under this definition?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - sowbug 1y ago
    If you believe that happened, your belief provides a motive for many of the actions that the linked article attributes to you. This makes the overall story easier for us readers to understand. To that extent, it might be relevant. But you'd want to consult a lawyer about it.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

whatever1 1y ago

Oh you are gonna taste your own medicine here. Welcome.

bapak 1y ago
He's not losing millions of dollars by being here. A taste of his own medicine should be given in court.

4bpp 1y ago

Your post does not really do much to dispel the negative picture that the opening article paints of you. You say their decline is "predominantly an industry problem". Is this also the case for your own company, Formation? You went on the record comparing Codesmith to a sex cult and accusing it of deceiving and exploiting its students and evidently consider criticising them to be a mission worth years of near-daily dedication, and the only example you have to offer to justify this in a thread where people question your motives for this is... some random anecdote about them having an IT fuckup? This doesn't read as if you have a coherent case that Codesmith is bad to an extent that justifies your single-minded effort to spread this message, but as either an attempt to throw more FUD at the wall in the hope that something sticks even in this forum, or an indication that you are not quite well.

michaelnovati 1y ago
I compared the statement 'do this because it changed my life and the life of many others' to the type of language used in cult documentaries on HBO. I stand by that opinion. Codesmith is not a sex cult. I can't believe I'm writing that sentence.
- crummy 1y ago
  > I compared the statement 'do this because it changed my life and the life of many others' to the type of language used in cult documentaries on HBO why did you make that comparison?
  - michaelnovati 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - sesm 1y ago
      What happened in 2024 that changed your mind?
      - 1y ago

AmazingTurtle 1y ago

Even if codesmith _was_ objectively bad, I am still wondering _why_ do you spend _so much time_ shittalking that company on every fucking occasion? Reddit, HN, LinkedIn. You are putting way too much energy into that, way more than the average person would objectively care. Makes me wonder.

Montymio 1y ago
a judge would def consider the extreme nature that’s occurred here. the number of posts is astounding, and the SEO damage could be monetarily accounted for.
- michaelnovati 1y ago
  FWIW those posts that show up in search are not my posts and I don't have control over that. I don't "post" that much about Codesmith. I comment a lot about them.
  - muppetman 1y ago
    A comment about them is still a post about them. This comment I'm writing, for example, is _also_ a post about what an unethical person you are and how your inability to understand or apologise for your behaviour says EVERYTHING we need to know about you. Or would you say I didn't post what an unethical person you are, I only commented about it?
  - stuaxo 1y ago
    Semantics. Question still stands, why are you writing (posting or commenting) this almost every day. I can't imagine being so obsessed by something for that long that I comment on it almost every day.
  - jibal 1y ago
    > I don't have control over that. You're a moderator. It's hard to assume good faith about anything you say.
  - Hamuko 1y ago

thisisit 1y ago

> Numerous other bootcamps have shut down. Codesmith's decline is predominantly an industry problem. In that case can you share the user stats for the sub? Because if coding boot camp as an industry is dying the growth of the sub should have also slowed down or plateaued, right?

JonoBB 1y ago

You’re trying to defend yourself, but you still can’t stop yourself from casting shade on Codesmith multiple times in this very comment. You have just proved that Lars is spot on with his analysis that you are an obsessive stalker.

stevev 1y ago

No doubt the industry suffered due to a market downturn, but your continuous posts and attacks worsened the situation for that company. Based on your Reddit activity, it appears to have been driven by a personal vendetta. If they pursue a defamation case, the evidence could strongly work against you. The overwhelming proof he presented of your actions toward the company would be difficult to defend. I honestly can’t understand why anyone would risk their own reputation—and that of their family—for dishonest gain. Most people are civil in such cases, but not everyone is if they conclude that evil was done. Scary situation to be in.

mda 1y ago

You should have never started moderating that subreddit because of the conflict of interest, it is completely unacceptable.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

IamOC 1y ago

Hey Fuck You Michael, you are a piece of shit and no one should get to know you. Just got aware what shitty people exist in this field

truakon89 1y ago
His responses here and on reddit remind me of Karoline Levitt responding to press.
- IamOC 1y ago
  Yep, this man is just pure evil you can see that on his head. Everyone says the same lol he researched best thing to share this up with if someone catches him red hand

shaderguy1416 1y ago

I've been trying to comment and post on reddit u/codingbootcamp and nothing goes through completely suppress by the mod. My comments are removed and i can't even make a post. I'm following all guide lines and nothing goes through. Here is something I posted. I want to raise a concern about moderator conduct. I have evidence (screenshots and permalinks) that suggests a moderator may have accessed and referenced private information about former employees and their family members. That kind of behavior would be unethical and could violate subreddit policy on harassment/privacy. Mods: please confirm whether these actions occurred and, if so, what steps you will take. I’m happy to provide the evidence via modmail.

fakebizprez 1y ago

Hey Michael -- you're a fucking loser.

PhilWatts 1y ago

There are people coming forward with evidence on Michael Novati’s digital stalking. One previous instructor at code smith(who also worked at Microsoft at the time), said he was digitally stalked, Michael Novati found his employment history and kept calling him out publicly so he would get into trouble with Microsoft. All this despite the person having clearance from Microsoft to work as an instructor at codesmith. With the twisted logic I see this guy using here, I would assume he doesn’t even see this as digital stalking. I guess that’s what being the “number 1 code commiter at Meta”(according to his linkedin) would do to you.