This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by SwitchUpCB
Now I’m rich.
I applied to this company that ended up being a total shitshow. First, it took like 2 weeks to go from the phone interview to the technical one. In that meeting, the “head developer” wanted me to do this “20-hour full-stack take home assignment”. The whole nine inches… The “20 hour” project ended up taking 3 hours because I used a library called Copygen. That library allowed me to generate a bunch of code based on types. Copygen is licensed under the GPL, but the code it generates is not. Once I explained that, their faces lit up: My labor was free game to take.
Except I placed another GPL license in the take-home anyways…
The next interview was with Tim, the CEO’s son. He was a fresh out of college graduate who “knew everything cause he had a degree”, but also would scream at me: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘What is your tech stack?’” Then, he proceeded to make me solve LeetCode questions until I got one wrong. We went through the entire Blind 75 and some more until he realized that I wasn’t going to fail.
I received my rejection letter the next day…
An entire month passed by before I checked to see how my “take-home assignment” was doing. The company just went through a funding round which meant it was time for my plan to spring into action: I called the nearest IP lawyer I could find and explained my case. He was literally frothing at the mouth while listening to me speak.
“WE ARE GONNA BE F*CKING RICH!”
— Lawyer
The lawyer prepared the case in a week. I sent the cease and desist.
“Company,
You thought I was interviewing to join your company?
It’s my company now. See the attached file.”
The company and I settled in civil court with me owning a little over 67% in order to void the GPL; since it was being used in the core product. There was simply too much money to be gained, such that this would be a better option compared to making the entire product free to use. What happened next? We’re living it… I fired Tim and make his Dad put in overtime every week. 8 days PTO. No parental leave. I make big bucko bucks. Tim is on this r/cscareerquestions trying to find a job.
“Who’s the wagie now, huh?”
I Placed a GPL License in my Take Home Interview Project. was originally published in Level Up Coding on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by SwitchUpCB
SwitchUpCB | Sciencx (2022-11-24T12:50:20+00:00) I Placed a GPL License in my Take Home Interview Project.. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2022/11/24/i-placed-a-gpl-license-in-my-take-home-interview-project/
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