Major Troubles at Grooveshark
Others are giving you crap about posting this here, but I’m glad you did otherwise I wouldn’t have seen it (I don’t sub to /r/music, as somebody suggested that as an alternative).
As a developer, we need to see how the market is treating us, and this is a good case for it. Sure there’s some emotionally driven stuff in here, but if what he’s saying is true then s/he had a right to be.
It’s also good to see that for some things we’re not alone (i.e. the loudest gets their way, paid under market, etc).
For what it’s worth I know all of this to be true because friends of mine work there. About three weeks ago the CEO flew in and they let a ton of people go, then gave everyone a paycut with a promise to “pay them back” after raising another round or “when things bounce back” or something like that. A lot of the perks are gone now too, no catered lunches and things like that.
I think this raises questions about things like glassdoor and the info you have as a prospective employee. I understand that companies don’t want everyone knowing their business but if you were one of the guys that got hired during that hiring spree only to be fired months later wouldn’t you have wanted to know about all this?
I kind of regretted turning down a recruiter who wanted me to interview with Grooveshark, now I think I think I dodged a bullet.
This is really sad to read about. I sympathise with this developer as i’ve been in a similar situation myself in the past.
Very disappointing too as I use Grooveshark daily.
The only reason this company has lasted as long as it has is that our legal system moves slowly.
I honestly didn’t realize that they were still around.
Sam (our fucking CEO) lied about our valuation back around October. He told us point-blank we were worth $375 million. Bullshit. We barely rake in $13 million a year and we’re being sued to hell, how the hell are we worth 28x that?
Everything else OP stated might be true, but he clearly doesn’t understand how startup valuations work.
It’s not surprising about their headquarters is in Gainsville, FL and they only want to shell out 40K for a developer. The valuation of devs (especially in web) is greatly underestimated in this area of the country right now, I’m in South Florida, and most of the job listings I’ve seen rarely go above $50K unless you’re a full-stack developer with multiple years of experience in their obscure and out-dated framework.
Lying about valuations, diluting employee options, alcoholic culture, hiring/firing like they’re flipping a light switch… these are all things I’ve seen one too many times. If you’re living/working for a startup company, make sure you have a safety net in the bank and business cards in your back pocket at all times.
Edit: Just learned these guys are in Florida. That explains the low salary, but it makes it much harder to find a new job. I hope everyone affected by this gets the help they need and back on their feet.
This reads like underhanded black market antimarketing by a competitor.
This sounds like the problems of a dozen other tech companies. I worked for one not long ago with a very similar situation. Massive layoffs, constant hiring, crappy stock options, ever reducing perks.
Not entirely surprised by any of the revelations on that post, but I felt sad by the end of it knowing that the only other stable companies in Gainesville are either Shands or Tower Hill (Not counting Nationwide since their tech department is more of a helpdesk type deal).
This guy needs to get the hell out of the swamp and into a real city that pays in line with national averages for developers.
I have a feeling this employee got laid off, left on bad terms, etc and now is just dragging the company through the mud.
The fact that James Hartig is still working at the company says a lot; That guy is rockstar talent and of all people I’d expect him to leave if the pay was absolute shit, the perks removed and everything that was written was true.
Ah, now I understand why the short and abrupt answer to my question about any possible future Chromecast integration.
This is a shame to hear. However, like all anonymous pastebin posts (like the recent “Google insider” one), must also be considered with a grain of salt.
My salt:
- The first thing I’ll say is that legally, there’s very little reason to be anonymous if you’re telling the truth, because you can’t get sued for slander or libel if what you say is factually true.
- If you’re working at Grooveshark and you think it’s a shit job, then why would you stay long enough to need to write a really shitty Pastebin note? Leave now. Nevermind the note damning your employers - the fact you’re still there if any of this is still true is already damaging your employability.
- “Greek fucks”? Oh please. Leave your casual racism at the door. (PS: yay Greece)
I cannot recall ever once in my life reading a narrative essay on pastebin that turned out to be true.
I have been broadcasting on Grooveshark for almost a year nonstop and I can definitely say that while Julia may be a pain to HIM, she’s definitely an absolute joy to have around for me. She’s always bubbly and happy, even when I’ve brought issues to her. I’ve been in steady contact with at least 5 Grooveshark employees and have nothing but good things to say about all of them, and I have never been involved in “greek life”. It sounds to me like he may have just been a bad fit for the company. What’s that saying again? If everyone else you meet is an asshole, you’re the asshole?
Yeah, sure, I’ll believe a random pastebin post. Uh huh, sure it’s legit.
No! I love Grooveshark! DON’T GO!!