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Ask HN: It tech attracting the wrong people?

29 points by corwinstephen ↗ HN
A year or so ago, I saw an article suggesting that the tech industry was becoming the new Wall St, attracting greedy people with little grounding in reality, and having an overwhelmingly negative impact on the people whose lives they touch. Though I understood the sentiment, at it didn't really strike a chord with me. The people I was working with, even the ones I didn't particularly care for, were still usually producing something of value, and that to me seemed like the most important thing.

Today I had an experience that made me reconsider.

Via a friendly intro, I'd crossed paths with a local founder, and we decided to get coffee and chat. Everything was fine until the part where I mentioned that I was impressed by his company's website and asked him who'd done it.

"Get this," he told me. "A 15 year old kid did it. For free."

I asked him how he'd convinced a 15 year-old kid to build him a free website.

"All he asked for in exchange for the website was $1,000 in bit coin," he said. "I told him I'd pay him, but then I just never did."

When I asked him why, he said they'd never signed a contract or anything, so why should he? I imagine he picked up on the weird look I was giving him, because he started justifying it, talking about how it was a valuable life lesson for the kid.

I walked away feeling pretty disgusted.

I know that was just one experience. But man, people ripping off those lower on the totem pole than them with no regard to how it affects them for the sake of their own personal gain, that sure sounds a lot like Wall St.

16 comments

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afroggie
You have an anecdote, not a statistically significant argument. No question about it though, that guy is a jerk.
smt88
There definitely are stats showing that people who have gone to Wall St. in previous years are now going to startups (generally MBAs).

That's all I really have to offer. Whether or not those people are assholes, like the guy you mentioned, is impossible to know.

Mimu
Dude was a piece of shit, you find those guys in every domain probably.
lgieron
I'm not a lawyer, but that kid might still have the rights to this website (code, design etc.) - since it wasn't passed via a contractual agreement. At least that's how it works in my country (Poland).
pariya
There are jerks in every industry. Just gotta work hard and be glad you're not one of them.

I'd like to believe the industry attracts just as many people who are trying to make the world suck less... like every person who was just disgusted by this story.

jpetersonmn
I kind of look at it differently. I don't think wall street attracts greedy people so much as it turns them into greedy people. Obviously I think smart people are going to want to get into a good paying career. However I think that when you are in an industry like finance were all that matters is making money, as fast as possible, it makes you really greedy. I think smart people are also attracted to the tech industry. However there are so many more different motivators that just money in tech. I know for me personally, I like to make a decent living so I can provide for my family, however money is far from the biggest motivator for me. Getting a bonus or something is nice, but not something I get excited about like solving a problem of finding a better way of doing something.
zachlatta
hey stephen, thanks for posting this on hn.

i know the founder you're talking about and i'm good friends with the person he exploited. if what you're saying is the truth (which i'm sure it is), i'm deeply frustrated that the founder is such an asshat and i'll be talking to him about this.

i try to stay optimistic about the world. people like him disgust me and i hope that there aren't too many more of them.

dreamdu5t
Talking to him? What he did is fraud. Plain and simple fraud. DO not talk to him. Sue him immediately in small claims for $1,000 (or even whatever $1,000 in bitcoin would be worth now)

The lack of a written contract has little to do with anything.

ashleyp
Narr. Wait till the founder gets bigger. Just wait, patiently. Then, ATTACK. :P
dayalamit
I would like an intro to this kid..I have work i need help on for my project and would happily pay him for his time and skills
dreamdu5t
If you know who this is and who the kid is you should give the kid this information and tell the kid he can sue in small claims. This is a clear-cut case of fraud. There's even a witness. The lack of a written contract does not matter.
MalcolmDiggs
Well...I guess it was indeed a lesson for the 15 year old. Now I hope that kid turns around and puts this jerk on blast all over social media. Lessons go both ways.
impendia
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke

The person you describe is guilty of the most despicable sort of fraud, albeit on a very small scale. Call the police. Anyone that brags about defrauding a 15-year-old deserves to be punished and to be put out of business. (IANAL)

api
I've seen far, far worse, and I find this story completely believable. Any area perceived as easy money is going to attract a lot of scumbags and hustlers, plain and simple.
rajacombinator
I don't like Wall St. But this kind of behavior is not exclusive to or even characteristic of Wall St. There are scumbags in all walks of life.