3 ms·

Is there any interest in "this is how I got fucked" at a startup type article, or is it so common that it doesn't matter? I have an experience...

ma2rten 12y ago
I think, I would be interested.
discardorama 12y ago
> I have an experience... I think we all do! ;-) Back in the day, I was a co-founder in a company, started by my advisor's wife. She called us (me and a colleague) to their house, and promised the two of us 20% ownership (and the remaining 60% she kept). I worked like a dog for about 1.5 years, spending nights and weekends getting it off the ground (the business was website creation and other backend stuff). We managed to get the ear of one of the largest grocery chains in the country, and their VP came over to talk to us. My ideas were the core of the presentation. As soon as it looked like it might take off, she started cutting me out. Then one day, the locks were changed in the office! As her husband was still my advisor, I couldn't do anything but grumble and continue working on my dissertation. A few years later, the company was sold for $30MM.
- srj 12y ago
  Presumably you have your PhD now? Why not sue today?
  - discardorama 12y ago
    I thought about it after I graduated. The problem is: in the initial years, people ask for recommendations from your advisor; and as a PhD, you are basically tied to your advisor for life (people will always ask: who was your advisor?). After some thought, I decided to give it a rest and move on. I had learnt a valuable (and very pricey) lesson: always take things in writing.
    - gohrt 12y ago
      That's deeply not true. Your advisor's impression of you does not affect later jobs.
    - kelnos 12y ago
      I think I'd take 20% of $30MM, even including a potentially difficult court battle, over a good rec from a PhD advisor (which, as others have pointed out, is less important than you seem to suggest).
api 12y ago
We all do. I've got several -- one involving me and two more involving others -- that are so weird I'd have to tone them down quite a bit to make them believable.

ma2rten 12y ago

I think, I would be interested.

discardorama 12y ago

> I have an experience... I think we all do! ;-) Back in the day, I was a co-founder in a company, started by my advisor's wife. She called us (me and a colleague) to their house, and promised the two of us 20% ownership (and the remaining 60% she kept). I worked like a dog for about 1.5 years, spending nights and weekends getting it off the ground (the business was website creation and other backend stuff). We managed to get the ear of one of the largest grocery chains in the country, and their VP came over to talk to us. My ideas were the core of the presentation. As soon as it looked like it might take off, she started cutting me out. Then one day, the locks were changed in the office! As her husband was still my advisor, I couldn't do anything but grumble and continue working on my dissertation. A few years later, the company was sold for $30MM.

srj 12y ago
Presumably you have your PhD now? Why not sue today?
- discardorama 12y ago
  I thought about it after I graduated. The problem is: in the initial years, people ask for recommendations from your advisor; and as a PhD, you are basically tied to your advisor for life (people will always ask: who was your advisor?). After some thought, I decided to give it a rest and move on. I had learnt a valuable (and very pricey) lesson: always take things in writing.
  - gohrt 12y ago
    That's deeply not true. Your advisor's impression of you does not affect later jobs.
  - kelnos 12y ago
    I think I'd take 20% of $30MM, even including a potentially difficult court battle, over a good rec from a PhD advisor (which, as others have pointed out, is less important than you seem to suggest).

api 12y ago

We all do. I've got several -- one involving me and two more involving others -- that are so weird I'd have to tone them down quite a bit to make them believable.