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All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management th

All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management then completely overreacts to criticism.

szierk 12y ago
It's not the criticism; it's the fact that an ex-employee is lying through his teeth about the company.
- q2 12y ago
  where are the proofs that ex-employee is lying? It can be CEO is covering up. Is it not?
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    Is this probable given how much risk he would be taking on himself in this situation? It could be a career-and-company-ending move.
    - ForHackernews 12y ago
      > It could be a career-and-company-ending move. Are you kidding me? What world do you live in where corporate executives and companies are punished for lying?
      - TeMPOraL 12y ago
        Most cases you're probably thinking about are of CEOs of big companies issuing CYA-statements that minimize legal attack surface. Here, the guy just exposed himself completely. Also Reddit is not Goldman Sachs; it's value is directly proportional to how much people like the company, and Reddit finds itself in the middle of another funding round. I do see a great potential for bad consequences here.
        ForHackernews 12y ago
        I doubt the unemployed guy would have the resources to mount a legal attack anyway. As for bad PR, take a look at this thread (or the reddit thread): the majority of people are reflexively siding with the CEO.
        opendais 12y ago
        Reddit just raised $50 million. A lawsuit is the kind of thing some lawyers take essentially on commission when the target has money.
- 001sky 12y ago
  Artfully telling lies is really a managerial skill in many workplaces.
- nilkn 12y ago
  It's far more likely that this is the first time he's ever been given clear reasons for why he was fired. I've never been fired, but when other employees I've known have been fired they've never been given reasons this clear. It's always a variant of "it just wasn't working out." This can lead to very genuine confusion, and so I think it's really jumping the gun to assume that he was deliberately lying about the situation.
- bane 12y ago
  So tell me which part of this statement (true or not) deserved for him to be publicly drawn and quartered by somebody in a significantly more powerful position than him? Officially: no reason. And I get this; I vaguely know how CA employment law works and that you limit your liability by not stating a reason. It's also really hard to work through in your mind. The best theory I have is that, two weeks earlier, I raised concerns about donating 10% of ad revenue to charity. Some management likes getting feedback, some doesn't. The reason I had concerns was that this was revenue, not income. That means you need ~10% margins to break even. This can be hard to do; Yahoo and Twitter don't. Salesforce does something similar, but it's more all-around, and in a way that promotes the product without risking the company's financials.
pgrote 12y ago
You are spot on. Perhaps a better way to have handled was to private message the guy with the reasons, update the thread that the private message was sent with the reasons and then let the guy divulge anything. Not only was it an overreaction, but it really has the stank of pettiness attached to it.
chipgap98 12y ago
I think the issue is that we are all trying to figure out who is in the right in this situation based on a handful of reddit comments. At the end of the day we don't have enough information to understand what truly happened.

All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management then completely overreacts to criticism.

szierk 12y ago

It's not the criticism; it's the fact that an ex-employee is lying through his teeth about the company.

q2 12y ago
where are the proofs that ex-employee is lying? It can be CEO is covering up. Is it not?
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  Is this probable given how much risk he would be taking on himself in this situation? It could be a career-and-company-ending move.
  - ForHackernews 12y ago
    > It could be a career-and-company-ending move. Are you kidding me? What world do you live in where corporate executives and companies are punished for lying?
    - TeMPOraL 12y ago
      Most cases you're probably thinking about are of CEOs of big companies issuing CYA-statements that minimize legal attack surface. Here, the guy just exposed himself completely. Also Reddit is not Goldman Sachs; it's value is directly proportional to how much people like the company, and Reddit finds itself in the middle of another funding round. I do see a great potential for bad consequences here.
      - ForHackernews 12y ago
        I doubt the unemployed guy would have the resources to mount a legal attack anyway. As for bad PR, take a look at this thread (or the reddit thread): the majority of people are reflexively siding with the CEO.
        opendais 12y ago
        Reddit just raised $50 million. A lawsuit is the kind of thing some lawyers take essentially on commission when the target has money.
001sky 12y ago
Artfully telling lies is really a managerial skill in many workplaces.
nilkn 12y ago
It's far more likely that this is the first time he's ever been given clear reasons for why he was fired. I've never been fired, but when other employees I've known have been fired they've never been given reasons this clear. It's always a variant of "it just wasn't working out." This can lead to very genuine confusion, and so I think it's really jumping the gun to assume that he was deliberately lying about the situation.
bane 12y ago
So tell me which part of this statement (true or not) deserved for him to be publicly drawn and quartered by somebody in a significantly more powerful position than him? Officially: no reason. And I get this; I vaguely know how CA employment law works and that you limit your liability by not stating a reason. It's also really hard to work through in your mind. The best theory I have is that, two weeks earlier, I raised concerns about donating 10% of ad revenue to charity. Some management likes getting feedback, some doesn't. The reason I had concerns was that this was revenue, not income. That means you need ~10% margins to break even. This can be hard to do; Yahoo and Twitter don't. Salesforce does something similar, but it's more all-around, and in a way that promotes the product without risking the company's financials.

pgrote 12y ago

You are spot on. Perhaps a better way to have handled was to private message the guy with the reasons, update the thread that the private message was sent with the reasons and then let the guy divulge anything. Not only was it an overreaction, but it really has the stank of pettiness attached to it.

chipgap98 12y ago

I think the issue is that we are all trying to figure out who is in the right in this situation based on a handful of reddit comments. At the end of the day we don't have enough information to understand what truly happened.