sci.research.careers

On Sat, 11 Aug 2007, Beladi Nasralla wrote:

>
> Here is the philosophical question: how can I get back at my former
> employer who I perceived abused me ?

1. Technically, what you got was a "backstab" and not abuse.
2. I have a basically identical question for my situation where the same
thing happened to me 1-2 decades ago. So, if anyone has an answer, I would
like to hear, also.
3. "Payback" for enemies can be legal or illegal. If illegal, then the
police will be after you. To be legal, it usually means you have a lot of
money and lawyers. Or, you come out with a competing product that ruins
them. You can read books such as "The Robber Barrons" by Johnston for more
ideas.
4. You can also pray to fate, try witchcraft (for spells), and voodoo
(which may or may not work, or at least make you happy),
5. IIRC, hate is not illegal but there are hate crimes so, if you don't
want trouble, don't do hate crimes.


> I used to work for a biotech company who were not able to come to the
> market with the product for over 10 years. They did the R&D on the
> investor's money which they raised through the stock exchange. In the
> past few years, I saw their stock price collapsed to 1/100 of what it
> used to be. Since then, the company has laid off the R&D manager as a
> part of cost-cutting measure and replaced the CEO with the one who had
> the new vision. Those two guys were instrumental in firing me in the
> difficult time for me, essentially kicking me out into the cold empty
> street. From searching the Internet,

Such as this did not happen to me, but at one biotech startup where I did
some consulting (and made a few thousand dollars in fees), the president
(who had a BS degree and a lot of money) fired the vice president (who
had an MD) and there was litigation for about a year.

I learnt that the CEO became a
> CEO of poor biotech start-up (and stayed unemployed for at least 3-4
> months), and the R&D manager became a senior engineer (not manager) at
> another biotech company (after spending at least 3-4 months
> unemployed). Knowing those companies, I believe they got very modest
> salaries. They certainly got a share of pain and got humbled, but I
> wish they got more.

There is a saying "Nice guys finish last" and we have the "Straydog's
fifth law of real life" which says something about the Conservation of
Assholes and Jerks in the Universe, This 'Law' is being currently
technically developed and needs more research because it is complicated
and needs a lot of tensor calculus to understand. When I have finished
this law, I will share it with everyone.

> Recently, the stock price rose by ten-fold on the news that the
> company finally found the new big buyers for its flagship product
> (which is still a prototype). The management probably popped the
> champaigne many times on hearing good news.

You have the option of cursing. Cursing is also legal. It is an option
which is the symetrical opposite of what the Germans call "schadenfreude"
(you have to look that up). Cursing involves four letter words, or their
derivatives. I can help you with some if you want. For additional
emphasis, you can string many cuss words together in the same sentence.

> However, few days ago, the Dow Jones index in the US fell by something
> like 6%. Following the news, the Australian stockmarket fell by around
> 3%, too, and lays in doldrums for several days already. As it was not
> difficult to predict, the price of the speculative stock of this
> company fell even greater (something like 10%).

You can cheer this (schadenfreude, again).

> I was thinking with glee about all this nervous breakdowns which the
> directors and investors experienced on the news. And I think more is
> to come. I can still feel the pain which that company's management
> actions inflicted on me (and I stayed unemployed for quite a while). I
> still cannot get over revenge-wishing after this many years.

I know many people with such feelings. We have another saying that goes
something like "Tell me when these guys are walking down a dark alley" if
you get my drift.

This is
> sad. Russel M. had suggested that the best revenge would be to live
> well. Well, this means I was not living well. I did not live poorly
> (not at all), but I did not live well either. After being in this
> hateful condition for over 8 years, the issue becomes philosophical.

This is all very legal. You are safe.

> It looks to me with more certainty now that the company will collapse
> with the coming bear run in the stock market. But is this a good thing
> to wish that !!!?

Think about all of the wars that have happened in the last thousands of
years of recorded history and ask yourself for how many of these wars did
victims families and survivors of attacks have bad feelings and bad
memories about those who attacked them. These days I read the WSJ all the
time, and read about actions by corporations and other organizations that
involve making someone else unhappy or taking their money or causing a lot
of greif for someone.

Your feelings--I assure you--are normal.

I go by an old idea that it is OK if you have fair deals in life. If you
get a good deal in life, then you can thank the person who gave you a
good deal and -- to be nice-- give them a good deal in the future as a
jesture of friendship or alliance. If you get a deal where you get cheated
or robbed, then call the police or organize payback (based on an old
idea: eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth).

If you look at how Microsoft destroyed Netscape, and how AOL bought the
rights to Netscape and then, afterwrds, litigated against Microsoft and
got a big settlement, then it is eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth.

There is another old idea about turning the other cheek. And, yet another
old idea: fool me once-shame on you; fool me twice-shame on me.

These are all interesting ideas. There is often great honor between swords
and dragons.