

Startup crisis. Dorm room style.  - jfornear

This is a joke compared to drinko's story, but I've really gotten myself into a bit of a bind lately. I'm hoping you guys might help me. I'll start with the background story...<p>One of my roommates is a film student, and he is taking a class in the film school on Internet media this semester. The class is brand new and has never been offered before. They basically spent the entire semester going over web 2.0 buzzwords (blog, wiki, mash-ups, news feed, beta, social bookmarking, social network, RSS, etc). They were also assigned to come up with a "cool idea for a website" for their final grade, and they are actually expected to develop this site.<p>My roommate's group quickly found they had no idea where to start. He came to me with some questions, and at first I was glad to help him. I started by walking him through the steps involved in purchasing the domain name and hosting plan. Then he started asking more questions, and I eventually had to tell him that I didn't have time to help him all the time and that the class was just ridiculous.<p>A week later he tells me that he wants to pay me to work on his project. All I would have to do was make a working prototype. At the time it didn’t sound like a bad idea, and it sounded like fun. I thought I could make some money and help a friend out, and I would be able to copy and paste code from other things I have worked on to cover the majority of the project. So I told him I would charge $20/hr, and I agreed to a cap of $400 since it was coming out of his pocket.<p>Then a few days later, he comes into my room with a stack of papers. It turns out to be a 17-page contract that his dad, who happens to be a lawyer, wrote up. The contract would give my roommate full ownership of the code, ip, license, etc, and all for only $20/hr with a cap of $400. It also states that I would not be a partner or have any equity. I scan it over and quickly decide that there is no way I am going to sign it (and I still haven’t). Not to mention that I was just scared of a 17-page contract and feeling a little outgunned when his dad is a lawyer.<p>So a week later, he doesn’t seem to care that I didn’t sign his dad’s contract, and he pays me for the first couple of things he needed to meet in-class deadlines.<p>Now, the project is looking really good, and I’m starting to think that their idea combined with my awesomeness might actually have potential. What should I do?<p>I feel like I am too easy to take advantage of, and I wish I knew the rules on the legal side of things much better.
======
briansmith
Don't be afraid of the lawyer dad. Keep in mind that lawyers want to make
things complicated so that only they understand them. (That is not really
true, but it saves time to think that way.)

They made you an offer. You rejected it, smartly. Now it is time for your
counter-offer. You already mentioned several downsides to their offer (you
can't understand it, no equity, too low pay, probably lots of personal
liability for you). You already mentioned that you don't even need this deal
(because you are young and you could be doing other things).

I don't understand why you don't see your own leverage here. He wants you to
do work RIGHT NOW. If he needs the work done right now, then he will
capitulate to your demands, if you have the guts to make any. The first thing
you need to do is STOP WORKING RIGHT NOW.

Then, throw away the 17 page contract and write a 1 page contract of your own,
where (a) you disclaim all liability, (b) you can walk away at any time, (c)
you get significant equity (if you are doing all the work, you should be
getting at least 50%), and (d) you get paid a real wage ($20 an hour is not a
real wage for a programmer). Give him that one-page contract and tell him to
sign it if he wants you to continue working on the project.

He will object. He will want to make changes to the contract. You have the
leverage, so tell him no. Definitely do not let his dad insert anything into
it--you must write every word yourself, in crisp, clear, English.

If you can convince him to agree to a contract where you have no significant
risk and you have significant benefits, then the deal can continue. Otherwise,
you have to walk away, because his lawyer is too big of a problem. (Notice
that this turns the tables so that his dad is a liability for him, not an
asset.)

You might think that it is not possible to convince somebody to sign a
contract where you have no risk and you receive a lot of benefits. Not True.
I've done it twice on contract programming gigs. Each time, the (small)
company signed the contract because they needed something RIGHT NOW. Then came
back later with changes suggested (demanded) by their lawyer. I rejected all
changes (think "I am not willing to sign anything except the backs of my
checks"), they got mad, and they either canceled the project (1 time), or got
over it (1 time). You just have to stand firm.

Personally, I still wouldn't take the deal because it sounds like your
"partner" is adversarial. The point I am trying to make is that you don't have
to be scared of lawyers, and there is no need to be intimidated when you have
all the leverage.

~~~
Xichekolas
All excellent points. You do have _all_ the leverage here, not film student
guy.

> Personally, I still wouldn't take the deal because it sounds like your
> "partner" is adversarial.

This is what stood out most in my mind as I read the OP. I wouldn't go into
business with anyone that I didn't trust like my own brother. If he is trying
to make you sign some 17 page contract as a college kid, imagine what would
happen if there were ever any real money to divvy up.

~~~
DmitriLebedev
The contract, I suppose, was a standard one from a laws/contacts database. So
don't worry much about the layer father.

It might be that father has told the son what is best to do (to buy all the
rights for the copyrighted material), and the son trusted father's authority.

I don't know if in your country a vocal contract has any power. Right now you
can prove that this material is under your copyright, but he can't prove that
he payed you for _all the rights_. So in my legislation system you'd still
have 100% of control over the situation.

------
menloparkbum
Um. There is some really bad advice in this thread. In fact, nearly everyone
is giving you bad advice and doesn't seem to know anything about copyright
law.

First - YOU own all the rights to the code, since you created it - even if
they paid you. If you sign that contract, THEY own all the rights to the code.

Second - It is up to you how you want to proceed, but if you want to own the
rights to the code, just keep working without a contract.

Third - DON'T involve any other lawyers or write up your own contract or call
the school's tech transfer office. This is only going to set up the situation
to favor the other guy or the school. Remember, YOU own everything.

Fourth - The lawyer dad knows all of this and that is why he wants you to sign
the contract. Lawyers are assholes - DON'T let him bully you into signing
anything.

~~~
dpapathanasiou
_YOU own all the rights to the code, since you created it - even if they paid
you._

Are you absolutely certain of that?

I'm not an attorney myself (nor am I trying to be flippant or argumentative),
but it seems the combination of verbal contract, his continuing to do the work
specified by his roommate, and his acceptance of payment may create problems
for the O.P.

 _Lawyers are assholes - DON'T let him bully you into signing anything._

Very true: standard legal M.O. on the first contract document is to try to get
away with anything.

I.e., they will _expect_ you to push back and remove some terms (and if you
don't, that's a bonus win for them).

~~~
brlewis
His acceptance of payment / verbal contract amounts to him granting license,
not transfer of copyright.

You don't have to take anybody's word for it. Most of title 17 is reasonably
accessible:

Ownership:

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000201----...](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000201
----000-.html)

See especially the definition of "work made for hire" here:

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000101----...](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000101
----000-.html)

~~~
cstejerean
I'm a little confused

A “work made for hire” is— (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope
of his or her employment; or

I read that as: if someone hired you to write some code for them, then the
code you write seems to be work made for hire, in which case they own the
copyright.

~~~
p_alexander
I think this is not a work made for hire because it was done on contract
rather than as an employee. From PubLaw (<http://www.publaw.com/work2.html>)

"But if the creator of the work is not an employee, but instead a freelancer,
than the "work made for hire" requirements of the independent contractor prong
must be satisfied. This means that the work must be specially ordered or
commissioned by the publisher, the work must fall into one of the nine
enumerated categories of work, and there must be a signed writing between the
parties where they agree that the work will be considered a "work made for
hire."

------
jmacd
You agreed to work on this as a contractor, for pay. You aren't being taken
advantage of if you agreed to a price ahead of time (cap or no cap).

Just because they have a good idea doesn't mean you have to be involved, there
will be other great ideas that come your way as well.

And hell, if this is successful, believe me: you don't want to be in business
with the kind of guy who a) goes to his father for help on such a simple thing
and b) would think a 17-page contract was a good idea in any way.

~~~
trevelyan
Totally agree. You need to be true to your word.

If the project has any future beyond the prototype, your friend would be crazy
not to ask you to stay involved. The time to discuss compensation and risk is
then. If you want something to happen, do a good job with the project and make
your partners excited by the prospect of doing more.

~~~
jfornear
I'll do this, but I still own the prototype, right?

~~~
cstejerean
Let them own the prototype, they are paying for it after all (however little
that might be). It shouldn't be hard for you to completely rewrite the
prototype if you want to go forward with the idea yourself (after all you're
talking about 20 hours of initial work, and chances are the rewrite will be
much faster and of much higher quality).

------
rms
Wow, this could get really complicated if you end up building something people
want. Before it gets any further, you need to have a talk with your partner
and his group members and talk about what they want to do with the site after
the class is over and if they're willing to give you significant equity. If
they don't give you equity, and you cease development after 20 hours, make
sure that you are allowed to launch your own competing startup. You'll have to
recode it, but make sure you're allowed to compete.

If they do give you equity, make sure they're not only doing it because
otherwise you won't do the project, which is the situation the last crisis
poster had. If every member of the group is not really happy with the
arrangement, you will have problems.

~~~
musiciangames
rms, why do you think jfornear will need to recode? (S)he hasn't signed over
the copyright, and there is no mention of it having been discussed in the
verbal agreement. And the bulk of it was copy and pasted. The 'customers'
cannot copyright the idea, although they may have explicitly stated that part
of the discussion consisted of trade secrets.

This is rather different from the Facebook case, where there was pre-existing
code when Zuckerberg was engaged.

If the father really thinks it's a valuable proposition, it's in his interest
to clean up the intellectual property situation sooner rather than later. I'd
have a friendly word with them to say you think the whole project is much more
likely to succeed if you've got equity as well. Once you've got an agreement
on terms that you all feel are fair, that's the time to get the lawyers to put
it into writing.

If they really want to get all legalistic on you, first think whether you want
to be in business with them, second you could suggest that they pay your costs
to hire your own lawyer.

~~~
nkohari
IANAL, but it sounds like it's work-for-hire. If you pay someone to do work
(particularly by the hour), it's my understanding that they own the
intellectual property you generate.

~~~
dpapathanasiou
Except this was for a class project, so it's possible the school owns the IP,
and if a venture comes out of it, he company will have to ask the school for a
license.

~~~
ia
exactly. i just finished creating an application for a doctor, but since it
was done as part of my master's program, the school owns the code. this means
that though the doctor may have aspirations of turning it into a million-
dollar product, he can't without working out a deal with my university. i'd be
very surprised if this guy's school doesn't have a similar policy regarding
code written for its classes. i think it's likely that the contract the other
person's lawyer dad drew up is moot--the school probably already owns all (or
most) rights to the stuff.

------
michael_dorfman
First: recognize that you made a mistake here. Accepting the money without a
contract is only going to confuse things. Pay the money back, (borrow from the
First National Bank of Mom and Dad if you have to).

While doing so, tell Roomie (and RoomieDad) that you want equity. Explain that
you like the idea, and think you have a lot to contribute. Also explain that
if they're not interested in giving you equity, that's cool-- you haven't
signed anything giving up the IP on what you wrote, and while you're happy to
let him use it for his class project, you retain the commercial rights to your
code.

Try not to make it sound adversarial. Explain how psyched you are about the
idea. And, when you get a revised contract from RoomieDad, get a lawyer of
your own to look it over before you sign it. (Again, prostrate yourself before
Mom and Dad if you have to-- it's not pleasant, but an hour of a lawyer's time
is worth it.)

~~~
jfornear
I haven't cashed the check yet, but I was approaching this as helping a friend
out in exchange for lunch money or something so I feel like I should keep it?

~~~
SwellJoe
You can keep it, if you intend to keep working on it. But don't sign the crazy
contract, and don't agree that what you're building belongs to your friend
except as it pertains to his use as a school project. If you want to
commercialize it (and maybe if he wants to be involved), you should retain all
rights to do so...and it sounds like any contract that involves your roommates
father isn't going to be acceptable--he's a lawyer who thinks his son farts
rainbows...you need to set the terms. I don't mean "go over the 17 page
contract of doom with a pen and make a few changes"...I mean start from a
blank page, specify the terms, state your ownership position (100% unless you
want to partner with this cat on a future business), and hand it over. It'll
only be one page, so even his dad will be able to understand it.

------
mikkom
Don't work with this guy. He's trying to take advantage of you.

If his dad is a lawyer, you are going to be in a trouble if you actually get
into some kind of a disagreement with the guy. He can say that you did in fact
have a verbal agreement and that he showed you the papers and you agreed.

$400 is very, cery little money if there is a possibility of legal fight
involved and by giving you the contract he has laready showed that he's
serious about the legal stuff.

~~~
mechanical_fish
Yes. _Do not work with this guy._ Just stop, now.

It's just not worth it. There are other ideas in the world. There are other
art students. There are _certainly_ better paying, more deserving consulting
gigs. Just bail now, before you kick yourself later for not bailing sooner.

If you need a list of creative excuses I'll offer a few:

\-- One of your pet goldfish died and you can't work while you're in mourning.

\-- You've converted to a new religion in which the Sabbath runs from Monday
to Saturday. You could work on Sunday, but that's when all your homework needs
to be done.

\-- You need money to finance your expensive drug habit, so you got another
gig that pays $150 per hour. Unfortunately, it takes up most of your time.

\-- Walk around in public with one arm in a sling. Claim, sorrowfully, that
you can't type anymore. Bonus points if you switch the sling from arm to arm
every other day.

~~~
rbanffy
"-- You need money to finance your expensive drug habit, so you got another
gig that pays $150 per hour. Unfortunately, it takes up most of your time."

I like the way you think.

------
thaumaturgy
If you're going to be heading in to any kind of adversarial situation
involving contracts, then you're probably already outmatched; your roommate
will go to his dad, and then whether you've drawn up your own contract or
purchased one or consulted with an attorney of your own, you'll still be
staring down the barrel of a lawyer whose son is involved. Lawyers love
nothing more than billable hours, except presumably your roommate will getting
a pretty healthy chunk of them for free.

So, I don't think you can make this work out.

But, if you wanted to try anyway, I'd suggest drawing up your own contract as
a counter-offer. They aren't hard to write, and they don't have to be long.
They just have to describe, in very plain language, what work you'll perform,
what you expect to receive in return, and what to do if things don't work out.

------
rms
Also, that really sounds like a ridiculous class. It's part of the film
school? How could they expect mundanes to do programming (even HTML/CSS) in a
class with no programming prerequisites? Is your friend on the only team
without a CS major?

~~~
jfornear
I heard one student in the class has worked on the school's website, but other
than him, you've guessed right, no one even knows html.

------
melvinram
I don't think your roommate is being malicious. He probably told his dad about
the project and his dad being the lawyer that he is, said "hey, have him sign
this contract." And because it was a 17 page contract, your friend didn't even
read it.

I would have an open & honest conversation with him about what your vision is
for the software and what expectations you have for compensation, including
equity.

If you can't have this discussion, walk away. It's a good indicator that you
two won't be able to work out tougher problems in the future.

PS: This conversation doesn't have to be a tense situation. In fact, if you
are excited about the future of this software, communicate it and maybe he'll
catch the fever.

~~~
jfornear
You're right, my roommate hasn't read the contract. I'm really just scared of
his dad because I don't know what he's thinking.

~~~
melvinram
Sounds like a straight talk is definite in order. Once your roommate is on-
board and you've got a simple contract done, have a sit down talk with his
dad. He may be a great asset in the future. Don't burn that bridge.

------
mattmaroon
I would advise you to talk to an IP attorney. They can probably help you
rather cheaply and might not even charge.

You're going to get a lot of moderately but not fully informed opinions on
this site, as you're talking to a lot of people who have probably dealt with
one end of somewhat similar situations. When it comes to law you're best
talking to experts who have your exact situation in mind.

~~~
jfornear
Thanks, I'll look into this. (Enjoy your blog btw)

------
hooande
If you've been paid, then they own what you gave them in exchange for the
money. Assuming you've met your contractual obligations, you don't have to
type one more line of code from here.

You should tell them the truth: you've reconsidered the potential of the
project and you want to re-negotiate for continued involvement. They have the
option of hiring someone else to pick up where you left off. If they exercise
that option, then move on to another project. You probably learned something
and made some cash.

If you ask me, the dad probably wasn't thinking "I'm gonna screw this
programmer as hard as I can! muahaha!". It was probably more like "I want to
make sure that my son doesn't pay some guy to make a website, then have him
copy it and put up a competitor".

Just tell the truth and state your point of view and it'll probably work out
fine.

------
babul
Usually in college, thaving a contract does not matter as work between
_friends_ does not need this and costs are generally shared. However, in your
case you guys are _not_ doing this as friends, which is highlighted by his
inital contract. If he is paying you then you are an employee/contractor paid
to do a job and as is the case in most companies what _you_ produce remains
the property of the company (or person paying) unless otherwise agreed.

Hence sort this out now before a small problem becomes a big problem :)

------
sethg
An important aspect of negotiations is improving your BATNA (Best Alternative
To a Negotiated Agreement). So what you most need to know is, if you walk away
from this partnership, what encumbrances are there on the IP that you produced
without a contract?

I _think_ that since you never did sign a _written_ contract with your
roommate that either explicitly transferred IP or contained the magic words
"work-for-hire", you and/or your school still own the IP and the roommate just
has a license to use it for his class project. But I'm not a lawyer and this
is really the sort of thing you need a legal consultation for. Since there's a
chance your school owns the IP, maybe someone in your school's technology
licensing office would be willing to tell you where you stand for free. If
not, your state bar association may have a referral service where you can get
a brief consultation for a low (as lawyers go) fixed rate. (At least, that's
what they have in Massachusetts.)

If you own the IP, then you can counteroffer from a much stronger bargaining
position. That is, if you decide to pursue this arrangement at all; I tend to
agree with the people who say this guy is not worth doing business with.

------
dkokelley
First off, a written contract is not required for your initial agreement to be
valid. Do not sign the written contract unless it has only the same terms you
agreed to in the verbal agreement.

Basically, you must complete your original verbal agreement, or his lawyer
father may come after you for breach of contract. You do not have to enter
into any other contracts. If he (or his dad) don't like this, ask them if they
will cancel the contract, in which case you're off the hook completely.

If you want to be a part of this venture beyond your original agreement ($400
for the contract work), come back with your own proposal (ideally, a co-
founder size equity stake).

It makes sense for you to get a co founder position, since it appears that you
are the only one who can create the site, plus they will need someone to keep
up the site and implement changes as they need them.

The downside is that from what I can see this person might not be the best
choice for a co founder. Especially if he undervalues the need for a technical
co founder on a "web 2.0ish" startup. The upside is that you do have access to
an inexpensive lawyer.

------
dpapathanasiou
_So a week later, he doesn't seem to care that I didn't sign his dad's
contract, and he pays me for the first couple of things he needed to meet in-
class deadlines._

IANAL, but that's a bad sign.

It might be that by virtue of continuing working and continuing accepting
payment, you are already contractually obligated, etc.

You should stop work and return whatever money you've accepted.

------
thorax
You already agreed to this via verbal contract to the $400 maximum. I'm not
sure where some of the other guys can say you should do anything.

Unless you stated you would keep on working for free after the $400 (which I
think probably would be the softest point in the verbal agreement later even
if you did), the best you can do is work until that contract expires and
negotiate a better written one with equity.

Let me repeat: you _verbally agreed_ to work when he offered to "pay [you] to
work on his project". You need to do the best you can to meet that agreement
because you agreed to the deal.

You need to return the contract to them and firmly state you did not agree to
this during the verbal agreement. If he wants you to sign something more than
you already verbally agreed, he has to negotiate. Be sure he understands you
want equity opportunity during any renegotiation because you are interested in
the site and want to continue to work to help it grow after the contract is
over.

------
lux
Definitely don't sign! It very well may have potential, and you didn't start
assuming you'd be building someone else's empire. If one is being built, you
should be a founder too. Technically at this point, the copyright ownership on
that code is entirely yours. You've simply granted him a license to use it for
his original intended purpose (handing it in for school).

It may just be that his dad pushed him to do that, but I would be concerned
with trust if he's already tried to pull something like that. You do need to
be able to trust the other founders.

Also, if he or his dad suggest to help work out an agreement between you two,
get separate legal counsel. That's a clear conflict of interest (which if his
dad doesn't disclose that to you up front, could land him in hot water too).

So you do have cards to play, but figure out if you want to play with these
people specifically. Ideas are not that hard to come by, as others on here
have said -- it's execution that counts.

------
okeumeni
STOP WORKING!

Legally, you’re not well off here: taking money is an implicit acceptation of
the contract.

Technically he needs your help since the project is still in its infancy.

Talk it out with your friend; proceed with a friendly conversation. Offer to
give back the money, explain the possibilities of being together in this
project and go for at least 50/50 equity with respect to the fact that you
made a mistake. Mainly don’t be apologetic, at the same time don’t look down
on him and avoid as much as you can the lawyer dad during the discussion. He
has as much to lose as you do.

------
sfk
I don't understand two things:

a) If the film school is a college, couldn't your roommate get expelled for
cheating?

b) Would not the college own the IP anyway?

~~~
SwellJoe
"b) Would not the college own the IP anyway?"

Only if OP were employed by the school for the creation of that IP. University
research grants often have a commercialization clause in them that requires
some involvement of the school in the event a product results from the
research...but independently funded projects certainly do not fall into this
category.

------
jdavid
lawyers charge $150-thousands of dollars per hour. For you to get legal
council on this would require an expense of more than $400. If they want you
to sign a 17 page legal document, ask for 17 * $650 an hour for your lawyer to
read it and give you advice. I think they will get the point!

And then you can all go, get a beer, and discuss some reasonable terms like
everyone else suggested.

~~~
streety
I'm not an expert on copyright law. Not in my own country and not in the US
(those $s were US$s, right?).

Having said this in these ~60 comments you probably have at least 10 different
opinions and everyone seems to KNOW that their interpretation is right.
Assuming half of the people here actually know what they're talking about then
this is clearly insanely complicated and you need professional help.

As such my vote, for what value it has, goes behind this idea.

~~~
jdavid
streety, my point was to point out the irony of the situation to his roommate,
i am sure they will work it out.

This film class seems like a great class, both of them are learning something.
I also think that the roommates father is trying to teach him something, and
its up to our young entrepreneurial hacker friend here to offer some learning
back.

My parents have gotten involved in a similar way to our YC friend's roommate,
and the only thing it did was make things more complicated. Yes I learned
about contracts at an earlier age, but what my folks should have been teaching
me was that I WILL HAVE THOUSANDS of great ideas, its not the idea that is
important, its the ability to follow through on it. I fear that this 17-page
contract has already jeopardized that.

I don't think any of the parties involved here should be trying to put all of
their eggs in one basket. Their goal should be about fostering the
relationship, if this project turns out better than a failure, then the next
one has an even better chance of succeeding. I think the goal here is to try
to learn as much as you can about building business relationships, and not
about the project. I still do business today on handshakes, and sometimes, i
move to a contract, but it all depends on the intended length of the
relationship.

------
babul
Forgot to mention, if the idea is good and things are working dont let these
issues stop you guys. Too many good/promising ventures fail as people get
greedy/petty early. Better you both have 50% of some thing big than 0% of
nothing (okay 0% of nothing is not possible but you get what I mean).

------
projectileboy
Dude: Just... walk... away. Seriously. Say thanks, and sorry, and just walk
away. Forget the website, forget the awesome idea. Just do your best to
salvage the relationship with your roommate, and walk away, or you are
absolutely, positively going to be walking into a burning train wreck.

~~~
jfornear
I would have already, but his grade is on the line. I just want to give him
something he can turn in.

------
menloparkbum
Don't sign the contract. According to U.S. copyright law, YOU own all the code
unless you sign something that explicitly states otherwise. The lawyer dad
knows this, which is why he sent you a 17 page contract.

------
babul
With a contract or any written agreement you are putting yourself in a
difficult position. Clarify things with him asap and put something in writing
what you agree upon.

~~~
babul
Typo. Should be _without_ a contract... ...

------
greyman
I would just continue without signing the contract (as long as he pays) and
wait some more time how things turns out.

~~~
Tichy
I suppose there already is a contract. At least in my country, vocal contracts
are binding, too. Then a lot of "default laws" apply, if the contract does not
specify anything else.

------
athloi
Copyright the code yourself, first. All's fair in love, business and war.

------
mikesabat
Please let us know how this shakes out.

Fortune favors the bold.

------
jakewolf
Just add in a zero to your hourly rate and keep on working on it.

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edw519
OK, let me see if I got this right...

Your roommate is paying you to do his homework

and

In order to "earn" that money, you're providing him with work that was already
done before.

Am I the only one who thinks there is something fundamentally wrong here?

This thing was f*cked up before it started and needs to be terminated. Now.

If your roommate is in college to learn something, leave him alone and let him
learn.

If you want to start a business, either drop out of college and start it or do
it outside of class.

If you are as "awesome" as you claim, then find one of the 12,309,384 other
ideas out there and run with it.

Nothing good will be harvested from bad seeds planted.

Oh, and while you're at it, read this:

<http://paulgraham.com/good.html>

~~~
menloparkbum
I sort of agree with your sentiment but... I could be wrong, but this is for a
film school (or at least film course) and this sort of thing happens all the
time in film school. Cuz everyone in the film industry expects to get paid
(except for the interns) and you might need a pro to help you out on a
project.

~~~
edw519
OK. I didn't know that film school operated under different morals from
everyone else. I guess that's Hollywood!

