
I’m a Startup Felon: The System Sucks - danaseverson
https://startupsanonymous.com/story/im-startup-felon-system-sucks/
======
DelaneyM
I get where he's coming from, and I don't dispute his thesis. The system does
suck. That said, as an employer a lot of this rubs me the wrong way.

First of all, his chosen specialty is fraud prevention and security, which is
one of very few areas where a background check is particularly relevant.

Secondly, formal education delivers (and demonstrates) more than just academic
concepts; when he drops out of a great school and suggests that he's "a
terrible fit for the current education system", I worry he's a terrible fit
for us. Similarly, when he describes himself as an "MBA-type", he's missing
the point of the very practical, and largely vocational, components of a solid
MBA program.

Finally, when a self-professed "hustler who happens to code at a fairly
competent level" without any professional training or history as a dedicated
software developer asserts that he's "reverse engineered multiple billion-
dollar companies tech stacks", I lose faith that he realizes how much he has
to learn. Software development is hard, and expertise in massive tech stacks
takes decades of focus to achieve.

To OP, as one person with a shitty history to another: stop comparing yourself
with your peers of origin (felons), and start competing in the bigger pool. It
isn't enough to be "better than your average felon", you need to be
_demonstrably_ better than the average Stanford-educated, classically
pedigreed, natively networked elite. _It isn 't fair_, but so long as high
stakes job markets/investments are plagued by an under-investment in
evaluation, reliance on pattern recognition and a strong bias towards false
negatives, this isn't going to change.

So get it off your chest and make the best of the life you've got. You still
have more privilege than most.

Note: This doesn't absolve US companies of their superficial biases and
incredibly biased false meritocracy. That needs to change if the country wants
to reach its full potential.

------
1_800_UNICORN
This guy is 25 and all "woe-is-me" about this incredibly productive life he's
lived so far? Jeez. I'm not taking away from the difficulties of living with a
felony record in the United States; the system is rigged against people with a
record.

But he's not exactly the right person to garner sympathy when he's made
hundreds of thousands of dollars and has nothing but a fruitful career ahead
of him despite his criminal record.

And make no mistake, sympathy is what he wants for publicly posting this
ridiculous article.

Also, stop acting like you're smarter than everyone else. Humility is a virtue
in this industry. Those skills you have today might be completely useless in
5-10 years, you always have to be innovating yourself if you want to have a
long successful career in tech.

~~~
dragontamer
I've got coworkers who have confided in me that they are felons: usually DUI /
reckless driving of some sort but yeah, that sort of crap stays with you for
life.

So I can understand how hard it is to find a job once you get a criminal
record, even something "minor", but there's a lot more to life than that.

Failing to get a college degree because "I'm a bad fit for the current
education system" is a weak-ass excuse. Anybody can get a degree if they work
at it. I know dumbasses who work their ass off in college to pass tests. No,
it isn't always easy, but work and practice to get that piece of paper really
does make a difference.

\--------------

I do think that we as a country can do better to "forgive" those with a
criminal record, or otherwise stereotype them less. But being unable to
complete a degree (despite having the money and resources to actually go to
college) with a weaksauce excuse is... kind of bad.

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alexmarcy
How does buying pizza with a corporate credit card result in a felony
conviction?

~~~
metaphorm
he didn't elaborate, but I was assuming it was not an authorized transaction.
he might have been using stolen credit card numbers.

~~~
theandrewbailey
I have a hard time imagining that an unauthorized charge for pizza alone gets
you a felony. That should be grounds for a firing, not a felony.

~~~
kyledrake
This definitely needs much more elaboration. Felonies are reserved for very
serious crimes. It should take much more than an unauthorized pizza purchase.

~~~
jhayward
> Felonies are reserved for very serious crimes

Not true in any real sense. I've seen a State of Texas employee charged with a
felony for making a $0.25 personal call from a state telephone back in the
early 90's.

The unreal magnitude of criminalization of "normal" behavior in the US is
beyond anything most people can imagine.

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metaphorm
here's my takeaway from this story: you REALLY need a good lawyer if you're
gonna have any contact with the legal system at all.

here's my second takeaway from this story: nothing is ever as simple as it
sounds. there's a lot of bad decisions evident in this story that really seem
to have nothing to do with that initial bad decision (credit card fraud).

~~~
whamlastxmas
Takeaway: Be wealthy. Don't be unwealthy.

~~~
metaphorm
America...you know how we do

------
humbleMouse
Hey! You live in Minneapolis? You sound like a cool guy, we should get coffee
some time. Shoot me an email @ mcmahonworks@gmail.com

------
wargame
Own it. You've been on national TV, accomplished a lot, and are a felon. So
has Kevin Mitnick. Use him, or someone like him, and model a strategy around
it.

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xstockix
I don't know what it would take to get the record expunged, but it seems like
cases like this are perfect examples of why sealing/expunging exists.

~~~
bsder
> cases like this are perfect examples of why sealing/expunging exists.

It's not quite that easy.

Sealing or expunging a record doesn't necessarily seal the _existence_ of that
record, oddly. So, depending upon the laws of your state, you may _still_ have
to indicate that you were a felon on applications. And many places regard a
sealed/expunged record as _WORSE_ than just listing the offense.

In addition, sealing and expunging tend to be _very_ subjectively dependent
upon the judge you appear in front of rather than objective and automatic.

------
meira
Look at me, I'm an "unprivileged" American. But I'm great and the system
sucks.

------
stevenwiles
I don't understand why we're supposed to feel bad for someone like this?

Like, sure he has a felony on his record, but he is enormously wealthy and a
successful businessman who will continue to acquire more and more money in the
future.

This guy is already far wealthier than most people will ever be, even with the
felony on his record.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think rich people deserve sympathy the
same way normal people do.

~~~
okwhatthe2
$200k is hardly rich: You can work for 5 years as a software engineer and save
well over that amount.

We shouldn't really take the shortcut of comparing our wealth to the wealth of
others. Aren't shortcuts in dealing with people a problem?

~~~
TheGrassyKnoll
> "My mom got sick, and the $200k I had saved over 4 years went down to four-
> figures..."

He doesn't even have $200k anymore. He may be smart, but he's not rich.

------
okwhatthe2
_holds fist aloft_

You know, they really don't understand us, and it scares them. The majority of
them don't even want to try - see, they're too scared of their own necks
getting an axe at some point in their corporate life to understand the trap
they've laid for themselves, and for us.

"We are the chosen few." You may try to hide in Byronic Hero for a while; it
may help.

I hope you own it all.

/not a felon, but with a felonious heart/

P.S. downvoters: Check out James Joyce, friend. : )

