I am the author of the article. Unless you've been in a situation like this, it's best not to armchair quarterback. I expected a mixed reaction to this, and that's fine.
I had a choice. 1) do nothing, hope the harassment stopped spontaneously (the private eye I hired caught this manager trying to sabotage an unrelated deal nearly a year after I left, so what would you conclude?), 2) fight back on my own terms. The nature of bullies is that they continue bullying until someone stops them. I couldn't afford to sue, and didn't want to spend the next couple years dealing with them in court either.
I would have rather just moved on. I just wish this individual had been reasonable. There were dozens of ways to deal with the situation amicably, all of which would have resulted in us sticking around, and them making money from the products they acquired. None of us wanted this outcome.
Lesson learned besides avoiding earnouts, also investigate whether a company has experience with M&A or larger investments, and thoroughly check executive history to find prior deals (just being in the room when someone else was running a deal doesn't count). If they have not managed an acquisition before, there's a high risk that they'll screw it up. It's human nature that people don't want to admit their own mistakes, so if that happens, you'll become the scapegoat for it all.
For buyers, the lesson learned is that in a small acquisition, you're also acquiring living thinking human beings, not livestock. Hardball pennywise tactics might save you some money in the short term, but nearly always create resentment, early departures, etc, and degrade the value of what you bought in the first place.
Take all of this with a grain of salt though, as I am a disgruntled employee, etc.
I'm all for you standing up for yourself and we all appreciate your posting it here for us to learn from your mistake. At the end of the day, you may be ranting and venting a bit but there's also that spirit of, "Learn from my mistakes so that you don't have to." Thank you, Brian, and I'm sorry I heard to learn of you in this way. Best of luck to you.
I'm disappointed at the number of "go to court" and "now go talk to your lawyer" responses here and in replies on the blog article.
Going to a lawyer is expensive. Going to court rarely helps your financial situation. You should do it only when all other avenues are exhausted. If publicizing this behaviour takes care of the problem (i.e., stops the harassment, allows the poster to continue on his new business ventures), then that is an amazingly cheap silver bullet solution, compared with the cost you incur when you cross that law office's threshold.
All the howling for legal revenge to set the world right re-enforces my worst impressions of Californians. Publicizing the details, which may cure the problem in the cheapest way possible, and then making money on something new, re-enforces my best Californian and Silicon Valley impressions.
Thank you for pointing this out. I just want to move on and focus on my new project, and not waste the next two years fighting in court over a botched acquisition.
A civil lawsuit is expensive. Expect to pay $200,000 or more, and to age about ten years and/or develop serious health problems from the process of dealing with people you'd prefer to throw under a bus.
The main reason I went public was so that other entrepreneurs won't make the same mistakes I did. It's no fun to admit that you got taken, but at least others can learn from it.
Given the evidence you have, you may be able to find a lawyer who will work pro bono. Given that they've done to you, the settlement might be never work again type money. At least spend some time checking into it.
By blogging you're opening yourself up to lawsuits. Now you'll be spending the same legal fees but with the good result being $0.
You're absolutely insane not to sue if half of what you say is true.
If you can't find pro bono, I think you'd definitely be able to find an attorney who would just work for 33% (or whatever) of the settlement. No cost up front.
I had a choice. 1) do nothing, hope the harassment stopped spontaneously (the private eye I hired caught this manager trying to sabotage an unrelated deal nearly a year after I left, so what would you conclude?), 2) fight back on my own terms. The nature of bullies is that they continue bullying until someone stops them. I couldn't afford to sue, and didn't want to spend the next couple years dealing with them in court either.
I would have rather just moved on. I just wish this individual had been reasonable. There were dozens of ways to deal with the situation amicably, all of which would have resulted in us sticking around, and them making money from the products they acquired. None of us wanted this outcome.
Lesson learned besides avoiding earnouts, also investigate whether a company has experience with M&A or larger investments, and thoroughly check executive history to find prior deals (just being in the room when someone else was running a deal doesn't count). If they have not managed an acquisition before, there's a high risk that they'll screw it up. It's human nature that people don't want to admit their own mistakes, so if that happens, you'll become the scapegoat for it all.
For buyers, the lesson learned is that in a small acquisition, you're also acquiring living thinking human beings, not livestock. Hardball pennywise tactics might save you some money in the short term, but nearly always create resentment, early departures, etc, and degrade the value of what you bought in the first place.
Take all of this with a grain of salt though, as I am a disgruntled employee, etc.