Gah!

[Melbosa]

No Comment... cept.. Gah!

[Lazybones]

Aghhhhhhhhhhh!

[Mr. Analog]

Hey off topic but I need a new dart board...

[Darren Dirt]

"I don't do anything unless I'm having fun," he says. "Money is never going to drive me. I believe that if it's fun, the rest falls into place."

glad I didn't eat any breakfast yet.

[Mr. Analog]

I need a new Full-O-@%&#ameter, this one just exploded

[Darren Dirt]

I need a new Full-O-@%&#ameter, this one just exploded

^ and that's just one quote from the puff piece; somehow I over-wrote my previous post (I meant to REPLY, not MODIFY) so if you only saw the above quote, then I think my mis-click prevented you having a stroke or something, bro.

[Thorin]

Well he's also staying put because he really doesn't have that much money and his rich parents live here.  Keep in mind that with a couple million in the bank from the sale of Upside and a three-hundred-thousand-a-year lifestyle, he's got six years till Broke City.

Anyway, money doesn't drive him?  Do we need to repeat the Stapler Story yet again?

[Mr. Analog]

If you think it's hilarious from this side imagine reading this from the inside

This would be a 4 pitcher day (per developer)

[Darren Dirt]

Anyway, money doesn't drive him?

He donates his time and money to charity (in front of the local media cameras, natch) ... So obviously he ain't driven by greed or materialism, ldo...

If you think it's hilarious from this side imagine reading this from the inside

This would be a 4 pitcher day (per developer)

Yeah but those guys were [minority] shareholders when he sold Crapside for 30 mill... weren't they?

[Mr. Analog]

If you think it's hilarious from this side imagine reading this from the inside

This would be a 4 pitcher day (per developer)

Yeah but those guys were [minority] shareholders when he sold Crapside for 30 mill... weren't they?

Yes and what a fabulous lifestyle they surely live (recent escapee works with Thorin and I)

[Thorin]

Mawji - who blinks so rarely during conversation that you may believe it to be the skill that keeps him from missing opportunities - doesn't miss opportunities.

Really?  He blinks rarely?  I've seen him blink lots as I was telling him he led company with a toxic management group and that I was leaving because I couldn't believe a single word he and his management group uttered.

As a kid, he'd sell watches on consignment at weekend tradeshows in Nairobi. A booth cost 100 shillings, about $10, and whatever didn't sell went back to his supplier. As a sales manager for Honda, his dad travelled. Young Mawji tagged along, picking up Commodore 64s in London and selling them in Kenya, where computers were a hot commodity.

These childhood stories, they keep changing a little.  For instance, now it's "picking up Commodore 64s" where a while ago it was "bought a computer":

On a family trip to the United Kingdom, he bought a computer to sell at a profit back in Kenya.

When stories get more detailed as they age, it typically means they're getting embellished as they age.

But hey, I knew he was a through-and-through liar from about six weeks into my employment at his former company.  Where apparently things did not improve after I was gone, and I know this because I've spoken with people who worked there for the eight years since I've been gone.

At one point in the exit interview he threatened me with making it so I wouldn't ever find work again in Alberta.
1. I've found lots of work, with people coming to me to ask if I'm willing to work with them
2. I WILL NEVER WORK FOR HIM AGAIN, and I will continue warning anyone who asks not to work for him

[Thorin]

Yeah but those guys were [minority] shareholders when he sold Crapside for 30 mill... weren't they?

He sold Upside for 22mil.  He had angel investors from the UK (friends of the family) who put in several million dollars back in 2000/2001.  They would demand a signifcant return on their money.  There were also stock options - what I've heard is that they made quite a bit less than a dollar per option.  And by the time he sold, those options were so diluted that most of the senior developers basically saw $500-$1000 of the sale.  There were also outstanding bills that would've had to be paid off.  If I'm doing the math right, he ended up with about 2mil takeaway.  Given the level of luxury his family is used to living in, I imagine his wife is probably still working to make sure they don't go bankrupt and lose the house in 5-6 years.

[Darren Dirt]

A lot of bitterness ITT.

Keep it up! I would like somebody to do a FYP to this laughable PR pap please:

"Upside Software came about in 2000 when, in dealings with his previous company, an IT consultancy, he recognized how he could save corporations millions by managing their contracts."



PS: fyi there is a "Comments" section -- I decided to create a Hotmail account just to be able to start the flame war... but I've got very little "ammo" hint hint
http://www.techlifemag.ca/1271.htm#fbcomments

[Mr. Analog]

Oh man, you know in cartoons when there's a cartoon devil and angel on your shoulders?

They both have horns

But I'll resist the urgggggeeeee

[Darren Dirt]

Oh man, you know in cartoons when there's a cartoon devil and angel on your shoulders?

They both have horns

But I'll resist the urgggggeeeee