Liesmith

Yeah, this guy doesn't speak for persons with Autism. He's trying to make an 'autistic culture' thing, acting like his disorder is just a choice, a valid social model. Unfortunately autism is not a social model, it is a disorder that ruins lives.

Yeah I read the article, and his rejection of 'people with autism' is akin to 'deaf culture' nonsense. Autism is a tragic, often crippling disorder and this guy wants it to be a culture. That's fine, he can feel however he wants and construct his identity however he feels best about himself. Calling a person 'it' is considerably worse, though, and that's what I was objecting to above.

It's not used 'too broadly.' Autism is a disorder on a spectrum. Some people have mild autism, some people have moderate and some people have severe autism. These are technical terms.

Also calling people 'autistic' and later calling people with autism 'it' as in 'try to injure itself' is a really shitty way to talk about human beings. Check yourself.

@angersock yeah, exactly like the next batch of shitbag YC kids hiring a COO. Because apparently that's who he's trying to get employed by. It's weird that you seem to think that this crowd are shallow children and yet somehow don't think that they will retaliate against public criticism.

Exactly. These things are ugly and this is a cautionary tale for anyone looking to work for a new startup but it's also really important to keep from looking like a bitter employee who will turn on you and make you look evil if things don't work out.

@ davidw: oh yeah I don't mean that this guy actually is whining, or that he didn't get screwed by jerks. I'm just saying that you can get screwed even harder by handling things like this in the wrong way, no matter what the rights and wrongs of the situation actually are. Reputations are important.

Because the individual needs something, and the startup does not. what do they care if he is pissed? He's some unemployed dude they'll never have to deal with again. Meanwhile potentially having them as a resource who will say 'oh yeah Ex Employee was a really great guy, we regret losing him, definitely hire him if you can' is pretty much the only positive he's gonna get from this experience. Complain about them and you don't even get good word of mouth from the, just a ton of wasted time and an angry story to tell.

YCombinator people talk to one another. they go to meetups. San Francisco is an incestuous little town. It's hard to break into and having bad blood with people on the inside can make it harder.

Of course it is, don't be naive. The people he's talking about are in a position to badmouth him right back, end even if they don't he can get a reputation for being a whiner who will turn on people who hire him the moment things don't work out. If you think that publicly criticizing your ex-employers isn't harmful to your future prospects then you're crazy. No one wants to hire someone who might turn around and complain about them to all and sundry if things go poorly.

Don't be ridiculous, If it was about revenue there would just be more toll booths.

Speeding is extremely dangerous. It's ludicrous to argue otherwise. A third of crashes (including fatal crashes) involve speeding, and the faster you are driving the more likely you are to die or fatally injure another.

Also, changing the speed limits on roads have been studied and it doesn't make a humongous difference. The government usually sets the speed limit at slightly lower than the average speed people actually drive.

Flip a coin.

Pretty misleading title. Yes, commercial and private planes have been shot down in the past. Yes, American commercial planes still fly through airspace where there is fighting on the ground. No, most of these places do not have access to weapons that can strike something flying at 30,000 feet or more. Israel's flights were cancelled because a missile hit a house just a mile away from the airport, where planes taking off and landing are particularly vulnerable. That doesn't mean that we should stop flying everywhere someone has a stinger missile launcher and is crazy enough to point it at Delta flights. Unless the people waging war have something on par with the BUK rocket that shot down Malaysian Air Flight 17 you've got little to worry about when you're 30,000 feet in the air. And only actual states have those. No one needs to be afraid to fly over Afghanistan.

Talking to a lawyer is not a step towards a lawsuit, is a step towards knowing your options. You don't have to sue, and in fact unless there is a lot of money involved that's probably the last thing you want to do. But saying "I don't want to sue, therefore I will not talk to a lawyer" is stupid and dangerous. Talk to a lawyer, and tell the lawyer "What are my options? I don't want to sue these people but..." and they will help you chart a course.

You can't assume it's not intentional, and we don't have enough info to know if this claim is small or not. Really the only thing to do is to talk to a lawyer. You should already have a lawyer since you've got a contract: talk to them. If you don't have a lawyer, then get one immediately. No one who runs a business should be without legal advice.

Talk to your lawyer. Don't waste time faffing around with this. You don't have to sue them but you do need to get advice from a legal professional who specializes in this kind of thing.