Comment by ahmedalsudani

5 years ago

repl.it has been a project I've admired and recommended for a long time. The same can be said for many members of this community.

A few reasons why there's so much anger, in my estimation:

- When you support a project, you want its leaders to embody decent values.

- You have always projected an image of someone who's "nice" and doing things right. You cannot bully your intern in private and keep that image.

- Most importantly, you are now in the Goliath position and you are acting tyrannically. It's hard to side with someone going "I have raised $20M and I will use it to crush you" to their previous intern. The fact that you did not explain your concerns, jumped straight to legal threats, and did not want to talk after the project was taken down looks quite bad. If you had approached it in a more diplomatic fashion, you would not be public enemy #1 on HN.

Understand the position you're in. You wield a big stick; speak softly.

P.S. it's perfectly understandable that you'd have concerns about the project, though IMHO it's an overreaction. That's not the issue. The issue is _how_ you approached it.

13 comments

ahmedalsudani

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amasad  5 years ago

Thank you -- this is really good feedback.

  • windexh8er  5 years ago

    It is great feedback. Feedback that you failed to execute on in a spectacular manner. You've lost my group as customers today. In no way will I knowingly support a founder with such a broken perspective on prior art.

truetraveller  5 years ago

The anger is exaggerated, and there are still many unknowns. Did he sign a non-compete agreement? If so, the intern would be breaking that agreement. It makes no difference if he raised $20 million or $100 million. There is nothing "tyrannical" about that.

I suppose you are a Muslim from your name. The Muslim stays silent when he is unsure. He stays clear of "drama". He thinks the best of other humans, and especially of his Muslim brothers.