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It means just that! Github have a very fine line to walk. They don't have traditional shareholders to make happy. At the end of the day, all they have is the
by cpayne 13y ago
It means just that!
Github have a very fine line to walk. They don't have traditional shareholders to make happy. At the end of the day, all they have is their brand to protect.
Ask Microsoft how important their brand is after releasing Windows ME. Or Blackberry just after the iPhone came out.
Clearly something has happened, but they have to not only find out what happened, but to also be transparent and show that they are trying to find out what happened.
I think its the best response you can expect given the circumstances.
- greenyoda 13y ago"At the end of the day, all they have is their brand to protect." They also need to protect their company from a potential lawsuit.
- vpeters25 13y agoBingo!, the lawsuit is coming regardless, Horvath made sure to leave enough of a paper trail for it. I think this whole situation looks like a misunderstanding snowballing into a tsunami. Founder's wife takes her for drinks, gets drunk, talks of her ass and says inappropriate stuff. I would just chalk it to drunkenness and forget the whole episode. It would've ended right there.
- dobbsbob 13y agoGuaranteed lawyers have already contacted her after hearing about this assuring her she has a big settlement waiting, which she probably does. Github will just want to make this go away and prevent her from shit talking the brand anymore and money is the answer
- cpayne 13y agoHow is the damage of a lawsuit different to the damage of their brand? It's one and the same.
- greenyoda 13y agoDamage to their brand is temporary. If they behave themselves in a civilized manner from here on in, the media will soon forget this incident and move on to the next scandal. On the other hand, if the lawsuit is for enough money, it can bankrupt the company: a huge award to the plaintiff, lawyer fees, executives tied up in court instead of running the company, etc. Their investors may not be interested in covering big losses; they might cut their losses and move on to the next up and coming company.
- cpayne 13y agoI don't think we are talking about the same thing. Depending on who you read, Github is a $750m company. What's the payout going to be - $2m? $5m? This isn't going to bankrupt them. San Diego Sea World and the killer whale or Blackberry & Palm mobile devices are examples of irreparable brand damage. What's the going price for a Microsoft Zune player?
- greenyoda 13y agoGithub has a value of $750m on paper. That doesn't mean that the company has any significant revenue stream out of which it can pay a $5M settlement. And $5M would be 5% of their recent $100M Series A funding, so it would a large chunk of their working capital. In any case, if that $5M goes to the plaintiff and lawyers, it won't be going to pay the yearly cost of 25 developers.
- rsynnott 13y ago> On the other hand, if the lawsuit is for enough money, it can bankrupt the company Github has substantial cash in the bank; it's not going to be significantly harmed by an employment suit.
- rsynnott 13y agoIf Hovarth was planning a lawsuit, she probably wouldn't have talked to the press; this is exactly what you don't want to do in that scenario.