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This July I Was Fired from Simple AI (A Deeply YC Company)
- andytratt 3mo agowow kinda honored this got 4 upvotes thanks yall
- andytratt 3mo agofyi the purpose is to get a new job, thanks for the -3 downvotes. haha
- ElProlactin 3mo agoWhat leads you to believe this post would make you attractive to another employer? You even publicly posted your Separation Agreement, which contains a confidentiality clause in which you "agree[d] to maintain in complete confidence the existence of this Agreement." It hurts to be let go and in these economic times, it can be scary. But this post is actually doing the opposite of what you want it to.
- andytratt 3mo agomy network is not on hacker news comments nor linkedin reading crap like what i posted haha. thanks for reading the fine print i didn't realize i had to not post that legally i will take it down now. tried contacted the lawyers (Cat & Zach & Jona but they didn't reply so now i will take it down. no prob. i'm compliant.) thanks kindly!!! appreciate the comment.
- ElProlactin 3mo agoYour network is not on HN but you submitted this and asked "please go upvote or leave your comments here:" with a link to HN? Anyone in your "network" who sincerely wants to help would give you the simple advice I'm going to give you: grow up. This post and all of your replies here are cringey and immature, and don't bode well for your employability no matter how smart you are (or think you are).
- andytratt 3mo agoyes my email and the blog content itself and my newsletter and private DMs and linkedin and each comment thread are each in separate databases and therefore i treat them as discrete surfaces on which to generate my tokens oh also voice. when i speak to the atoms in the air to people next to me in meatspace that's the big one. and the one Simple AI kinda bets on. thanks for encouraging me to grow up that seems productive i will increase velocity t of the rate at which the future approaches me.
- andytratt 3mo agoah this math was better than the daddy joke. focus on this.
- andytratt 3mo agonobody has told me to grow up since i was 5. when daddy beat us so thanks.
- andytratt 3mo agosuch interesting karma fluctuations today
- andytratt 3mo agoindeed
- andytratt 3mo ago[dead]
- gjsman-1000 3mo agoHappens. I worked at a startup that offered to triple my equity if I stayed a full four years, a special offer to me for seven months of excellent performance. Four months later, growth below projections, they laid me off 19 days before my 1 year cliff. 3/9ths of the engineering team, gone. The lesson I’ve learned is to never, ever, put long hours into a startup you don’t own. Ever.
- SoftTalker 3mo agoEven you you had cleared the cliff the equity is going to end up worthless 90% of the time. Equity is a carrot that you usually never get, like the donkey you just keep chasing it.
- andytratt 3mo agoequity is ownership, period.
- SoftTalker 3mo agoIt's only worth what someone will pay for it. And often there are no buyers.
- andytratt 3mo agosounds true. i wouldn't know
- SoftTalker 3mo agoI've had equity in a couple of start-ups. None of it ever ended up being worth anything. Remember your equity is a lower priority claim on assets than a creditor has in a bankruptcy.
- 0x3f 3mo agoWhen you say own you mean fractionally, or founder level share only? The thing is even if you 'have' the equity share as an employee, you might never get liquidity. And (super obviously) most startups fail. So even if you have a decent chunk of 'ownership', you really, _really_ need to believe in it to be working those hours. I'm talking the kind of belief built on your specialist and insider knowledge about why it's very likely to crush everything else. And even then you can get screwed!
- dwroberts 3mo agoOP, feel bad for obviously unpleasant situation, but I don't think the way this is written makes you come across in a good light at all. Maybe just me?
- YawningAngel 3mo agoI'm not sure that's the point
- dwroberts 3mo agoI didn't want to be rude but to be more specific: It comes across as "god this guy is insufferable, I don't blame them" especially the tone with which he asked to be dismissed/leave?
- 0x3f 3mo agoI think he's just young and awkward, as we all were at some point.
- andytratt 3mo agoamazing. PG said "write for the youth, you have to just corrupt the youth. only way to create generational institutions."
- andytratt 3mo agoso glad the tone was conveyed through the thoughtful writing i artfully crafted. as oscar wilde says "when the critics disagree the artist is in accord with himeself"
- andytratt 3mo ago++
- herodoturtle 3mo agoNot just you. OP strikes me as quite childish. I’m guessing he’s quite young, nothing wrong with that. And yeah, the circumstances aren’t great (the stressful move to SF in particular). Tough break!
- ElProlactin 3mo agoReading things like this is the primary way I learn that I'm getting old. I mean, I just don't get it. There doesn't seem to be a purpose, and no ostensible benefit to be had.
- brcmthrowaway 3mo agoSo.. why were you fired?
- andytratt 3mo agohappy to share but legally i don't think i'm allowed to say. look at my linked resume and call / text me.
- andytratt 3mo agoalso i don't really know. so physically and mentally i am incapable of answer thing like this. haha
- andytratt 3mo agoif you or anyone else can explain to my why i am fired and why these comments are a cesspool of rage and scorn then please do call me and let me know your insight. or if you want to ask someone not me for ground truth, go ahead and ask Simple AI and YC hahaha
- andytratt 3mo agoand dang. dang seems to know whats up
- andytratt 3mo agothis is the question i've been waiting for from zach and cat too haha i wish everyone just asked this question like if the world woke up and all the LLMs could talk and they just asked everyone i suspect elon's truth seeking grok would just have a easy answer here. if only the info sources and context windows aligned. https://computerfuture.me/posts/context-windows https://computerfuture.me/posts/context-windows ^ i may or may not have written this on a-z.md first
- KaiserPro 3mo agoIm not really sure what you are wanting to communicate here? is it that you need a new job and this is the hook? or do you have some insight into better ways of being letgo/fired/parted ways with? its also not clear how long you were there for? (i'm not in the business of stalking people on linkedin)
- triyambakam 3mo agoIt's hard to tell what is sincere vs sarcastic here
- andytratt 3mo agoyes that is my writing style. it is in fact the writing style of Donald Trump too. in person we are different i promise. as someone who ran both Presidential Scholars for Obama and Trump White House showcasing the INTEL ISEF math olympiad kids to Melania and Michelle, they are all great in person. i cannot speak to Biden and the rest. give people hugs, as tim ferriss says
- andytratt 3mo ago100% autism.
- andytratt 3mo agook like that other guy i like you triyambakam lets be friends you have good comments. thanks!
- andytratt 3mo agothis is what they call "flooding the zone" in offensive defense strategy lango lingo
- 01284a7e 3mo agoI see why someone hired you (prestige), I see why someone fired you (terrible communicator, egoistical, lack of professionalism/tactless). The tactlessness is just awful. I would consider deleting that post.
- abnercoimbre 3mo agoAlso why is he putting the company on blast but also sounding super duper grateful to them?
- andytratt 3mo agoi am grateful. they paid me. commensurate to all of our aligned expectations. as elon recently said in the Economist interview: "i don't think i've said many inaccurate things i can predict my future quite well."
- andytratt 3mo agook great. is it legally required?
- staticshock 3mo agoThat's more forced laughter in one blog post than I was interested in suffering through.
- firefoxd 3mo agoI feel for you, getting fired is pretty terrible, and and everyone assumes you did something bad to earn it. But you forgot to say a few things in your post: Hey everyone, I made an expensive move and changed my life for a job, and it didn't work out. In fact, I got fired. If anyone is looking for someone with experience in X Y and Z, I'm your guy. Reading the title, I thought the company did something horrible to you, but I must have missed it from the text. (The biggest crime I see in this text though is the inconsistent capitalization in sf)
- andytratt 3mo agothis is the next post. thanks. yes it's queued for tomorrow if you can wait that long and subscribe.
- brcmthrowaway 3mo agoWill you stay in SF?
- andytratt 3mo agoas the post says, i financially cannot afford to leave (personal philosophy is to have net worth go up at all times) thanks for the curiosity - i believe curiosity leads all SF dwellers to great success and wealth over time. never stop asking questions. in public.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- swingboy 3mo agoWhat is this writing style…OP is a 12 year old girl? Penguin of doom…
- andytratt 3mo agowhat are these comments? induced by the writer? predicted or not? what is the average view count of his productive function? how would tyler cowen rate it.
- andytratt 3mo agotyler cowen doesn't rate things he invites the cool kids to talk about themselves and then JUST LISTENS via joe rogan prompt technique "statement then they talk" its cool interviewing w/o questions
- andytratt 3mo ago@grok it. or @devin. someone can explain this i am sure ^ maybe tyler? andys.blog/usa
- andytratt 3mo agoi am in fact also a penguin and a girl.
- andytratt 3mo agowait are you? wut
- InsideOutSanta 3mo agoI'm so confused by what I just read. What was the point of that? Why is this on hn? It's incoherent and almost manic; I'm a bit worried the author might be experiencing some kind of mental health crisis.
- andytratt 3mo agowhy did you comment? and read all of it?
- InsideOutSanta 3mo agoI commented because I'm not sure if you have considered that you might not be well. I hope you look after yourself. What you are doing right now, including posting all these responses to comments here, does not seem healthy.
- andytratt 3mo agothank you for your concern. i will file it with the appropriate healthcare authorities. specifically my girlfriend who is reading your comment with me right now haha
- andytratt 3mo agohuh fascinating you've commented to amass 5784 karma insideOutSanta but never posted or submitted a single thing? to HN? i would give you -5 karma as a loser who never submitted something. that seems healthy to me
- InsideOutSanta 3mo agoYou've now responded a second time to my comment, both times saying things that I feel most people who are doing okay would probably not say. I hope you will reconsider what is currently happening to you and seek help. I realize that this is something people often say as an insult, but it's not meant that way, and I hope you will consider the possibility that you genuinely do need help right now.
- andytratt 3mo agowhy was this flagged? 44 points and great discussion here.
- andytratt 3mo ago[dead]
- dang 3mo agoIn addition to the reasons expressed in the comments, another reason may be that you said in the article to "please go upvote" the HN thread, which is against the rules (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html) and something a lot of HN users care strongly about.
- andytratt 3mo agooh i've seen this everywhere i read a lot of HN sorry my b i will remove that EDIT - done thanks @DANG i removed it
- throw03172019 3mo agoWrites email about how you aren’t working well with the founder and are happy to “remove yourself”. Then is curious why you get “fired”.
- andytratt 3mo ago[flagged]
- throwaday0451 3mo agoWhy did you include emails threatening to blackmail Simple AI to get more money ("wondering what a fair exit package looks like ... and what I should post on Linkedin to update my network"), then indicating that after you received $20K in payment, you "wouldn't bother" them? All of this following a him-or-me demand email. And then making this post? It's a pattern of self-destructive behavior. The best possible course of action at this point is deleting the blog post. Note that the separation agreement you signed prohibits you from sharing any Separation Information—including consideration (in this case the $20K figure you reference is part of the consideration). Your blog post is public evidence and even this comment I'm making right now could end up in discovery if your former employer wanted. If I were you, I would not antagonize them further.
- andytratt 3mo agoexcuse me you are accusing me in public of threatening and blackmailing someone? that's pretty serious. sounds a bit libelous or slanderous or something aggressive. throwaday0451 as you characterize me as a blackmailer, are you sure you don't mean "negotiating" or "communicating"? if so your words are injurous and damage me. do you have a lawyer i can talk to about this public defamation of my language and mischaracterizing me on Hackernews?
- andytratt 3mo agoalso are you saying i'm antagonizing someone, if so what's your evidence? i'm flagging this comment. i think it's egregiously offensive and against HN terms of service.
- andytratt 3mo ago[flagged]
- andytratt 3mo agoi'll antagonize whoever i deem to antagonize because usually when i do i ask questions and then they can respond and we call that conversation. that's my preferred form of antagonism is written speech on the internet. please excuse me while i continue antagnozing you who has nothing to do with the employer in question at all whatsover and never will good luck to you sir
- reticulates 3mo ago[flagged]
- reticulates 3mo agoand since it’s mentioned in the post, it feels fair game to call it out: Andy has revised his experience up over the years, from working at Scale to running support at scale to founding a team at Scale… he was an early employee who did some customer support. Presumably Simple got caught up in Andy’s impressive revisionism.
- andytratt 3mo agoi did very little to impact scale's success and have publicly stated i deserve absolutely zero equity even less than the 0.01% i was initially offered (please compare with others who started same day as me Jeffrey Li for instance) then the 0.02% Richard ni offered to double it to on the day i resigned with Sara Niyogi in the room as a witness as Richard's hands visibly shook on a routine firing of an employee... it was sad and easy and pathetic for all of us. i was particularly immature and idiotic in how i handled that. please see my numerous blog posts on scale ai or use grok to find a list of them. i was not paid severance at scale ai. i resigned. totally different situation. thanks for bringing it up Reticulates. here are ones off the top of my head: - andys.blog/rare most recently - https://thenextlevelcareers.com/lessons-in-rejection-turning-no-into-a-strategy-next-level-careers https://thenextlevelcareers.com/lessons-in-rejection-turning... (someone else wrote this) - https://world.hey.com/tratt/my-5m-choice-036905be https://world.hey.com/tratt/my-5m-choice-036905be (this one actually got a lot of emails from random people - wow thanks for sharing so brave helped me move on from the job i didn't like even tho i had golden handcuffs etc etc) - https://trattner.github.io/Scale-AI.html https://trattner.github.io/Scale-AI.html - i think this was the best one probably, i wrote it after doing the initial interviews on my 3rd attempt to get hired. thankfully Rilka / Angela didn't blacklist me after i failed that one coding challenge in js haha andytrattner.com/scale - the google doodle thing its on github somewhere - https://trattner.github.io/decade-reflections-2020.html https://trattner.github.io/decade-reflections-2020.html this certaintly touches the scale ai days but i dont think it was directly mentioned here just for more context for the public you want to show the world my insanity about thanks BTW i think all of this is ridiculous to outline in grave detail. anyone with a good enough memory who cares is at this point liquid, exited, under different management.
- deifavoridiablo 3mo agoThe dominant goal is to produce the most entertaining public blog and life story. One method is to "fail" at secondary goals which others insist are primary. Comments can be posted with care, to influence the next episode. 1st-3rd degree reverse psychology is the sweet spot. At least he's not in any legal trouble...
- andytratt 3mo agonever have been never will be bro.
- andytratt 3mo agoi have POA for my father who is in jail so yes. it is easy to since age 10 be navigating the justice system when your aunt and uncle beat you in wisconsin to not become jeffrey dahmmer making of a murder Netflix and instead become an angel of light and silicon valley MIT stardom. oh did i say beat i meant beat your little sister who is 6 years old when you are 9 and then they steal your money to go take their kids to the Charcoal Grill while you have peanut butter in the kitchen and eat nothing good and that was done on $3k/mo social security checks in your name but you don't know because you are 9 and then they take your college funds and remodel their kitchen for $40k or $80k i don't remember dont even try to calculate the interest to date in 2026 from 2006 and then they sell the house! for a profit! and you pay your own way thru college. did you get that part of the story anon account? and by the time you learn the word "statute of limitations" it has expired thusly
- raincom 3mo agoIf you are looking for your next job, just consider that your future employers will read your blog and your comments here. Since you consider yourself as a CEO type, you are fine, then. However, when you want to raise money from VCs, the latter can also read your comments.
- andytratt 3mo agostart with past employers then proceed to future employers my raincom bro
- andytratt 3mo agoi have considered it for 7 years from when i started blogging 60 days straight which is what got me hired to Namebase, Clever, Scale AI and the whole adult life started. do you recall raincom, where you there, when i lived those 7 years? lol
- andytratt 3mo agoi sincerely hope all people on the internet who care to read these comments do in fact read them. there are a lot and more each time someone comments and i reply, and it is pretty overwhelming as an artifact. and that is the point of comments sections.
- andytratt 3mo agoversus the original artifact which you write with great care and edit and revise then publish to the official blog andys.blog which i did. thanks.
- andytratt 3mo agoyes right ceo type fine can speak mind free speech murica. good. net worth go up = freedom go up yay, get revenue, get users, become un-fire-able. or FIRE = independence retire early yes? move to 3rd world country yes? oops been there done that. haha
- andytratt 3mo ago
- rsynnott 3mo agoWas there more content here at some point, or something? I can’t follow this at all.
- andytratt 3mo agosee https://andys.blog/this-july-i-was-fired-from-simple-ai/ https://andys.blog/this-july-i-was-fired-from-simple-ai/ then https://andys.blog/p/1d8cf3c6-a63e-41fb-acc0-4d41f99e3f86/ https://andys.blog/p/1d8cf3c6-a63e-41fb-acc0-4d41f99e3f86/ coming out in a few minutes
- andytratt 3mo agodown to be friends literally call me :) xxx xxx xxxx available at andytrattner.com
- andytratt 3mo agoprobably i lost track.