Ask HN: How would you take on rentiers and middlemen? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How would you take on rentiers and middlemen?

4 pointsjustaguyhere4 comments

Not specifically talking about landlords but rentiers in general. I see them everywhere - they don't provide a lot of value, but they are masters in crafting really shitty (for everyone else) contracts and sit in the middle collecting money. For example, my recruiter collects money every hour I bill. He did/does absolutely nothing other than arrange my interview with a few phone calls and some paperwork. I came to know some of the terms in the contract recently and was stunned at the one sided nature of these.

Another example is these Amazon FBA "entrepreneurs" all over the place - they do work, but it is arguable if they deserve the amount of profits they get (one guy was bragging about his margins - he gets items for $4.75 from China and sells them for $25). It would be great if they did quality check, support etc but many of them don't even see the products they sell after initial samples.

I don't begrudge these (except maybe my recruiter :P) people - they found holes in the system and are exploiting them, good for them. But it bothers me that the system is so unfair.

Well you can go after the serious one.

1. The ones who do not allow zoning change and later ask to Govt to step in the house crisis so they can lease risk-free their housing units?

2. Organizations and regulators that regulate blue-collar jobs as hair dressers;

3. Corn Ethanol that imposes their use on gasoline mix (If it is soo good, sell it as ethanol only as in Brazil) but doesn't force it on Gas.

Every one of the renters is going after middle class because there is where the money is. And I am sure all of this renters feel/believe they are indispensable and are providing a valuable service.

Now let it rain downvotes

Not answering your question but here's a funny story from my past:

Once i got a job at IBM (as a consultant) and they told me i had to structure it via "agency". IBM was willing to pay premium on top of my rate to make all legal paperwork to come through easier.

So i had to call "lucky" agency myself.

I called first one I knew - but the agent there had a bad habit of ignoring my calls. He ignored me again.

Then i called another agency and they happily agreed to make paperwork happen.

I conservatively estimate the loss of the first guy's agency was about $170,000 in do-nothing fees due to ignorance.

Why not start your own agency, just for that job? Or negotiate and say "I'll offer you the contract but we split the fee 50-50."

unionizing and strongly regulating the h1b system?

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