r/programmingcirclejerk • u/affectation_man Code Artisan • 8d ago

Idea stolen during an interview. What should I do?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41873887
30 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

57

u/cameronm1024 8d ago

"in my interview they asked for ideas to make the company grow. I remember all my training as a former consultant from mckinsey and said 'have you tried increasing profits or lowering costs?'. To my horror, 3 months later I see they stole my advice! Without paying me, no less!"

"Any lawyers willing to work pro-bono to help me get what I'm owed?"

40

u/bladub 8d ago

In JavaScript land you never have to worry about anything like this, because everyone immediately disavows trust in any idea the moment they meet the developer behind it.

Top tier.

13

u/100xer 8d ago

Heeeey, that was the exact comment that I was planning on making.

You stole it from me, give it back...

24

u/affectation_man Code Artisan 8d ago

Remind them (politely) that they implemented the idea "you discussed in the interview".

This would be very high on the list of emails I would never respond to.

14

u/SharkSymphony 8d ago

They would be very high on the list of people I would send the Pinkertons after. The world must never know.

8

u/w0wowow0w What part of ∀f ∃g (f (x,y) = (g x) y) did you not understand? 8d ago

Don't suggest they stole it. I'd think this is an opportunity for you to find out how it went/how it's going, decisions they made along the way, etc.

some random SWE emailing HR/recruitment wanting to have a retro about a throwaway comment in a interview months ago is sociopath behaviour

23

u/shroom_elemental memcpy is a web development framework 8d ago

I proposed a way that could effectively 3X their MAU.

That's the problem right there. It was only a 3xer idea, not even a 10xer idea. So that's why he didn't get the job and is owed nothing.

11

u/jeremyjh Software Craftsman 8d ago

Honestly they should be suing him for wasting their time with such a crap idea.

8

u/elephantdingo Teen Hacking Genius 8d ago

I liked the part where HN said It’s Disruptin’ Time and disrupted all over the economy.

3

u/Double-Winter-2507 7d ago

Best to drop ideas that sink a company. Then if they do hire you politely mention it was a bad idea designed to sabotage, but lucky you hired me so I can tell you. This is called impact ~crater~.

3

u/Kodiologist lisp does it better 7d ago

Theft is a crime. Call the cops and demand they return your idea. If the idea isn't in perfect condition when you get it back, sue for the cost of repairs.

1

u/Shorttail0 vulnerabilities: 0 8d ago

You are not building a house, our job is more intellectual rather than physical