
Lost Job Due to Popular Article [on Software Estimates] - ebcode
https://www.gofundme.com/lost-job-bc-of-engineering-article
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Swinx43
While this really is a terrible situation I have the following questions:

1\. You are clearly working as a contractor, this requires a lot of financial
discipline, why do you not have enough runway saved up to deal with this? From
personal experience working as a contractor I always ensured I had 6+ months
worth of runway.

2\. This title inflation is really scary. You are not the CxO of anything if
you are a contractor. Unless you mean you are the CxO of your own company
through which you contract. However even then the way you conflate your own
position in your own company and the role you fulfilled at the client does not
inspire confidence.

It is truly terrible that you are in this situation and it is honestly a very
horrible thing for this company to do. Either way if it does not breach the
contract they have with you then there is nothing illegal about it.

At some point we all need to take a very long hard look at ourselves and
realise that crying foul when the wheels come off life is not the answer.
People set themselves up to not be able to absorb the terrible things that can
happen in life. Some general advice that should serve anyone that is
contracting well is:

1\. Don't live above your means! 2\. Save at least enough money to carry you
through 1 year of living expenses should you lose your current contract. 3\.
Always keep a close eye on the contract market and move contracts regularly.
That keeps you interview fit and aware of current demand. 4\. Realise that
life is not fair and plan for it! Not only do you sometimes get terminated by
an employer (rightly or wrongly as they might simply not need your service
anymore) but you could have an accident tomorrow that puts you out of work for
months. (Believe me I have had such an accident and if I did not follow rules
1 and 2 I would have not been able to relax and recover fully before needing
to rush back to work)

Best of luck and I hope that the lessons of this experience does not pass you
by.

~~~
nikanj
1: "It looks like you're poor. Being poor is really stupid! You shouldn't be
poor. I have a lot of money saved up, and I face much less problems than you
do!"

~~~
Swinx43
No not at all. If you work as an IT contractor of his calibre you need to
assume some personal responsibility for your own finances. If you cannot do
that then you cannot cry foul when life throws you a curve ball.

This has nothing to do with someone that is poor or someone caught in poverty
and the poverty trap.

Please provide a better argument than making things out to be so simple as
poor and not poor. I grew up in the third world, was poor, got an education
and built my life. Your comment truly disgusts me as it trivialises poverty
and makes it out as if we have no choice in our lot in life.

------
j-walker
A self-described "CTO / Co-CEO" asking for donations via GoFundMe...

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fencepost
The chances that this was illegal are very low, and generally laws against
censorship apply to government and government agencies, not to private
businesses.

Beyond that, I hope you get through ok and find a new position soon.

~~~
flukus
It's not illegal but if the current levels of corporate encroachment into our
personal lives continues then this sort of stuff should be made illegal.

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charsifood
Here's a link to his [very weak] article. [https://hackernoon.com/the-myth-of-
software-time-estimations...](https://hackernoon.com/the-myth-of-software-
time-estimations-576a7466d91a)

~~~
kristianp
CTO/Co-CEO at DuroSoft Technologies LLC. Principal software developer behind
BitFort+Hierarch

That's the company that he worked for I imagine.

~~~
flukus
> That's the company that he worked for I imagine.

I doubt it, a CxO doesn't get fired like that.

~~~
MaulingMonkey
CxOs generally aren't contractors either, I think.

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flukus
Needs some milestones, like "will name and shame the company" at $2500. A link
to the article would be good too.

Finally, that's some extreme title inflation in the header image their. If
you're working for someone you don't deserve a CxO title, especially if you
don't have funds to make it through to the next month.

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spicerguy
I'm not sure about how contracting works where this guy is, but in the UK if
you're contracting you can (generally) be let go by the end of the hour if
your management wants it. Nothing illegal about that at all.

Also, I can see how someone who's paying this guy a day rate might not take
too kindly to an article written by said day-rater that looks rather like
"don't worry about how long you'll be paying for this project". He's asking
them to pay that day rate for an undetermined length of time for undetermined
outcome.

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MaulingMonkey
A good reminder to bank a few month's runway if at all possible.

~~~
flukus
This. I had a years runway once and still nearly lost the house (going through
some personal issues and being unemployed). Made me really glad I had a modest
apartment and wasn't up to my eyeballs in debt, I would have lost everything.

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GoToRO
And that's why you can't help people unless they are ready to be helped.
Because if you do it before, they will hate you or even fire you (only in
US?).

~~~
ankurdhama
> only in US?

Nope, everywhere. Hurt people ego and they will attack you without giving it a
second thought.

~~~
flukus
I'd argue it probably happens less in the US (and the western world) than in
many other places with much more strict seniority rules.

