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Well, if it makes you feel better, I had a conversation with a Zynga employee last night, who is pretty happy about leaving the company. In particular, he wan

Well, if it makes you feel better, I had a conversation with a Zynga employee last night, who is pretty happy about leaving the company. In particular, he wants to go do something he believes in, and to quote him, "and i don't hugely believe in selling virtual cows" So - to some degree, the crash and possible termination of Zynga's business model, enables these people to escape the company. If the stock had value, then they would be trapped in that really horrible (for some of them) career. When the stock has no value - they are all now free(er) to go - no handcuffs.

danilocampos 14y ago
This is a really important perspective I hadn't considered. Money can be a very corrosive incentive. If, say, you have student loans or a family to support, you might decide to trade your personal sanity for a payoff. Glad the decision to leave is easier, at least.
freshhawk 14y ago
That is a good point, the job market for developers is great right now and they've just freed up some talent to hopefully work on something useful.
samstave 14y ago
When i worked for a company that was acquired by Lockheed Martin, immediately upon the announcement of acquisition, several employees resigned saying they could not knowing work for a war monger. Their conviction was greater than the potential wealth and very commendable. Your comment insinuates that these employees had no morals and were freed by the failure. This is actually a fucked up position. There are many factors that play into this, the most significant of which is the employees living paycheck to paycheck where they cannot actually leave on a high ground position due to their needing the money... and your point is that "well, at least the company failed freeing them of any moral risk of staying with the company should it have succeeded and trapped them with lucrative options!" To this I say, fully and openly: Fuck every single thing about Zynga and the attitudes and policies it may beget. FUCK ZYNGA and I have zero sympathy for any of its employees in any regard. I have been openly decrying this company for years - and I still will - I can't stand such bullshit in any industry and Silicon Valley should SHUN them and be ashamed of every relation to this company. We are trying to make a better world here, aren't we folks? If not, then fuck you - because if your goal is only self-enrichment then I despise you.
- jaredmck 14y ago
  So, did you resign from Lockheed Martin?
  - ahi 14y ago
    If he didn't have an ethical problem working for Lockheed Martin why would he? His point is that IF you have an ethical problem with the work you are doing, it shouldn't be the devaluation of stock options that gets you to stop.
- efa 14y ago
  No, some people are just trying to make a living. And maybe make the world a better place outside their job. So fuck you too!
- gamache 14y ago
  I don't agree with your reading of the comment, but I guess it was better suited for a rant, so fuck me. What if the Zynga employee/s in question had not a moral objection to virtual cow trade, but a mild distaste? You can work in an industry that you think is kind of stupid, but not morally offensive. This is totally separate from the issue of working for a company that steals other people's work as a matter of course, which was not addressed here.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  Hi Sam - I sense you have a lot of anger here, and most of it is probably pretty valid. Money is a funny thing - when you've got a $600K mortgage, and a couple kids heading off to college with $45K/year tuition, and your company gets acquired by Zynga, and you discover you have $500K worth of options that will mature if you stick around for a couple years, or you can walk away from all that, and go get a job as a $120K developer somewhere - well, let's just say it's very tempting to justify selling virtual cows for a couple years. Understand there is a difference between working for a lame company, and a morally objectionable company. I could make an argument that what Zynga did with Tiny Towers/Dream Heights wasn't that much different than what Samsung did with it's Galaxy Tab/iPad. In both cases, these companies took another product as an example, and put their own spin on it. Neither of them is really "morally reprehensible" - but, if you want to do original work, or make the world a better place, there are probably other places you can work - and taking money out of the equations makes it that much easier.

danilocampos 14y ago

This is a really important perspective I hadn't considered. Money can be a very corrosive incentive. If, say, you have student loans or a family to support, you might decide to trade your personal sanity for a payoff. Glad the decision to leave is easier, at least.

freshhawk 14y ago

That is a good point, the job market for developers is great right now and they've just freed up some talent to hopefully work on something useful.

samstave 14y ago

When i worked for a company that was acquired by Lockheed Martin, immediately upon the announcement of acquisition, several employees resigned saying they could not knowing work for a war monger. Their conviction was greater than the potential wealth and very commendable. Your comment insinuates that these employees had no morals and were freed by the failure. This is actually a fucked up position. There are many factors that play into this, the most significant of which is the employees living paycheck to paycheck where they cannot actually leave on a high ground position due to their needing the money... and your point is that "well, at least the company failed freeing them of any moral risk of staying with the company should it have succeeded and trapped them with lucrative options!" To this I say, fully and openly: Fuck every single thing about Zynga and the attitudes and policies it may beget. FUCK ZYNGA and I have zero sympathy for any of its employees in any regard. I have been openly decrying this company for years - and I still will - I can't stand such bullshit in any industry and Silicon Valley should SHUN them and be ashamed of every relation to this company. We are trying to make a better world here, aren't we folks? If not, then fuck you - because if your goal is only self-enrichment then I despise you.

jaredmck 14y ago
So, did you resign from Lockheed Martin?
- ahi 14y ago
  If he didn't have an ethical problem working for Lockheed Martin why would he? His point is that IF you have an ethical problem with the work you are doing, it shouldn't be the devaluation of stock options that gets you to stop.
efa 14y ago
No, some people are just trying to make a living. And maybe make the world a better place outside their job. So fuck you too!
gamache 14y ago
I don't agree with your reading of the comment, but I guess it was better suited for a rant, so fuck me. What if the Zynga employee/s in question had not a moral objection to virtual cow trade, but a mild distaste? You can work in an industry that you think is kind of stupid, but not morally offensive. This is totally separate from the issue of working for a company that steals other people's work as a matter of course, which was not addressed here.
ghshephard 14y ago
Hi Sam - I sense you have a lot of anger here, and most of it is probably pretty valid. Money is a funny thing - when you've got a $600K mortgage, and a couple kids heading off to college with $45K/year tuition, and your company gets acquired by Zynga, and you discover you have $500K worth of options that will mature if you stick around for a couple years, or you can walk away from all that, and go get a job as a $120K developer somewhere - well, let's just say it's very tempting to justify selling virtual cows for a couple years. Understand there is a difference between working for a lame company, and a morally objectionable company. I could make an argument that what Zynga did with Tiny Towers/Dream Heights wasn't that much different than what Samsung did with it's Galaxy Tab/iPad. In both cases, these companies took another product as an example, and put their own spin on it. Neither of them is really "morally reprehensible" - but, if you want to do original work, or make the world a better place, there are probably other places you can work - and taking money out of the equations makes it that much easier.