Comment by steve_adams_86

My experience is that most won’t. I was someone who wouldn’t say no, once. For me it was because I was naive and didn’t believe people would work so hard to exploit others.

In fact, one time there were users on an ad network I built who were breaking rules. I’d track them and try to figure out where they came from and who they actually are, only for them to drop out and open a new account. I’d report to my CEO about this, ask for advice, generally discuss strategies to prevent this kind of usage of the network. He seemed very concerned. But sure enough, eventually I figured out it was actually him all along. He was making tens of thousands of dollars in revenue per month doing literally the most shady stuff on the network. He was using my naivety to keep himself in the loop on internal compliance and stay a step ahead of me.

I’ve worked with several people like this. They love the tech industry. I had to finally admit to myself that I worked with bad people and did bad things to develop the awareness and courage to start saying no and do something else.

Once I was gone, he did the same thing with a younger developer who was eager to break into the industry. I actually work with him now, nearly 15 years later.