Anyone that knows me knows I hold no love for Upside Software and it's founder. During my tenure there, it was a @%&#hole sweatshop with constant employee churn that actually caused some developers to completely abandon the software development field. Management and especially the founder lied through his teeth to me at the beginning, the middle, and the end of my 22 months there.
So I'm glad to see that he is finally, finally removed from that company! http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/story.html?id=6988632&cid=dlvr.it-ej_biz
Lies that were told to me:
1. "we pay for overtime" - six weeks in when I'd worked 164 hours of overtime and didn't see anything on my cheque, I was told that actually no they don't pay overtime
2. "the bonus will more than pay for any overtime hours you've worked" - actually, I put in 220 overtime hours and got a $1,000 bonus, so the math is $4.55/hour, or less than I would've made if I'd worked those hours at McDonald's
3. "don't listen to the rumours, I'm telling you the truth" - except that everything I heard from the rumour mill in the office turned out to be true, and nothing I heard directly from his mouth turned out to be true
4. "we're going public next year, and we're giving you 2,500 more stock options" - stated in 2004 and again in 2005 (stock options only in 05), never happened; instead this is a private sale
5. "my goal is to make everyone who works for me a millionaire", said while trying to convince me I was making a mistake leaving and also included an empty threat that if I didn't tell him why I was really leaving I wouldn't find work in Edmonton anymore - this private sale is only making him rich, no one else is profiting (unless he's paying back the silent angel investors that got him started?); also, I laughed at his empty threat and then told him that he was a bald-faced liar and that I was leaving because of the poisonous environment he created (he asked for the truth)
6. "I plan to double revenue every year" - around the time I was leaving a bunch of us Upsiders had looked over the publicly-released numbers (none of which meant anything on their own) and roughly calculated revenues back to the first year Upside started; in 2005 it would've been roughly $9.5mil, and in this article they're expecting $5mil in 5 months or about $12mil for 2012. So in 7 years the revenues increased by about 26% instead of the exponential growth he claimed would happen. SciQuest is expecting $15mil out of it next year, but I think they're being optimistic
This was the first company I worked for with an asshat owner; the second was much more recent. The second has had its owner punted a month or so ago after a hostile takeover by the investors who were tired of his lies (HOORAY); Upside has had its owner removed via a sale that sees him with _much_ less money than he ever bragged he would have. Good god I'm glad to see him removed from the software dev scene in Edmonton, though.
I gotta say, I'm much happier with the CEO of the company I work for now.
HOLY @%&#IN' @%&#
my goddamn world is going crazy
2 xanax in 1 day now
aslkfdal;skdfl;ksaj
Ding Dong the witch is gone?
:D
I absolutely love the one comment there, who dopped that pearl of wisdom I wonder!
Quote from: Thorin on July 25, 2012, 08:05:21 PM
Anyone that knows me knows I hold no love for Upside Software and it's founder. During my tenure there, it was a @%&#hole sweatshop with constant employee churn that actually caused some developers to completely abandon the software development field. Management and especially the founder lied through his teeth to me at the beginning, the middle, and the end of my months there.
sadly, the ^ above ^ could just as easily be exact wording of a post from various non-Thorin members of the forum. :P
Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 25, 2012, 09:25:58 PM
I absolutely love the one comment there, who dopped that pearl of wisdom I wonder!
I presume the Xanax is to keep yourself restrained from creating multiple sock puppets logins to offer your own... "colorful perspective"?
And give them the satisfaction? Hell no!
I always knew this day would come, I just didn't think it would take this long. My one hope is that the people still suffering seize the opportunity to go elsewhere, 'cause out of this deal the only people who are @%&#ed are the ones still working there.
I thought about it, but then figured there wouldn't be enough characters allowed.
I'm sure that one comment is from a friend or family member, not someone who actually worked there / worked for him.
I think he was still hanging onto his dream of selling it for a hundred million (yet another thing he told me during the "exit interview" aka "brag and boast about himself meeting"). Also, his ego was totally woven into that place, so I'm sure it was a bitter-sweet decision to leave, even though he'd never admit that to someone as it would show weakness and he thinks himself a predator not prey.
Wow, sure is easy to get negative about him. Gee, wonder why.
Anyway, I was hoping for Upside to suffer and decline rather than just stagnate, but stagnation is still better than it being a runaway success. I think I predicted, back when I left in 2005, that within five years the company would fold or at least suffer a significant setback thanks to his management "skills". I guess I was a little wrong on that prediction - although staying right around the same revenues for seven years when you're constantly boasting about doubling revenues, well, that's definitely a missed goal.
God I hated how he tilted his head back and literally talked down his nose at you. And god I hated how he pretended to support you and then after a while would slowly stop supporting you and then leave you to twist in the wind.
I thought maybe this ars article was relevant: http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/07/measuring-the-boss-from-hell/
Hah!
Anyone read Ashifs deal in the latest Nait Alumn trash... er mag?
Pitiful.
Nope. Do you have a link?
I should clairify: it's in tech life not alumn mag.
And it was in the hard copy Thorin, not sure about online version.
Well here's tech life: http://www.techlifemag.ca/default.htm
All I could find was something about NAIT's Top 50 Grads where he talks about the first time they bought new chairs at the office.
You know why we were all excited? The other chairs we had were all garbage. The kind of no-armrest, single lever chairs you buy for kids.
Quote from: Thorin on October 27, 2012, 11:30:49 AM
Well here's tech life: http://www.techlifemag.ca/default.htm
All I could find was something about NAIT's Top 50 Grads where he talks about the first time they bought new chairs at the office.
Googl'd it.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mawji+site%3Anait.ca
article found
http://www.nait.ca/88363.htm (where the chair excitement is mentioned)
same article also found linked from the 50 list @ http://www.nait.ca/88284.htm
in the same week, seeing on this forum a post about Upside, bringing up horrible memories even for those of us never employed there...
...and finding a link to a video about the exact opposite thing i.e. INSPIRING WORDS FROM AUTHENTIC TALENTED DEVELOPERS
http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/C9Team/Build-Developer-Video
Quote
To kick off Build 2012, we put together a video featuring developers who have helped move the industry forward. We asked them to share why they love what they do. Hear what they have to say in this video, shown on day one at Build.
via http://twitter.com/mastermaq/status/263351363445063682
Oddly enough today, was, the first time in my life where I got a bonus that wasn't @%&#.
I got a 66% bonus to my pay
We all did in fact
Every single person I think sent our HR person an e-mail confirming to ensure it wasn't an error with payroll.
I was already in the zone today, grooving on some great electronic beats and then to get that surprise!!
Well, it makes it all worth it.
And you know what else? I don't ever feel like I'm working, and yet I'm making tons of cool stuff and reaping rewards.
Life is good!!!
At Upside I worked a couple hundred of hours of overtime, was told the profit share would cover it, and then got so little profit share that it was actually below minimum wage for the number of hours I'd worked. To get bigger profit share the next year, I had to put in even more overtime. I was at Upside for 22 months.
I've been at Questionmark for 20 months and have now received nearly as much in profit share and have not worked any overtime (and when I did work late for a while, it was noticed and I was asked why I was doing that because I should have a better work/life balance). And I work from home most days.
Day, meet night.
I do sometimes feel like I'm working, there's still things that I don't like about my job. However, I'm allowed to try and find ways to do things better to improve my own and others' jobs.
Oh, and that's 66% of one bi-monthly cheque, not 66% of annual compensation :) 2.75% of annual compensation.
Like I said to my dad on the phone yesterday my bonus was larger than some annual increases I've had in the past hah