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Comment by downandout | Hacker News Reader

Very classy. Keep in mind, though, that it makes is somewhat easier to take being fired in stride when you have a $200 million cushion. He doesn't have to deal with many of the challenges that most newly-fired people do - like finding a job in the not-too-distant future, etc. To be sure, getting kicked out of the company you founded is an emotionally challenging experience, but he can lick his wounds on board a private jet to a private island.

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Getting fired from something you poured your heart and soul into for close to five years, sacrificed relationships, health (+40 lbs), etc., must feel awful. I suspect he really does feel love for many of the people who were in the trenches with him during this time, as he avers in the closing line. Staring at your bulging bank account can only do so much to lessen that pain, at least in the short term.

This comment is totally unnecessary given all the caveats downandout made, and as someone who has lived through hard times it upset me to read your comment, although I do appreciate the edit that was made.

Your hard times are only hard relative to that of others, and even then, only in some aspects.

But we know the human brain doesn't work like that anyway. My life is, in almost all aspects, better than the vast majority of the people in the world, but that doesn't stop my brain from making me feel completely awful when something bad (relatively) happens. Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

Locus of perception. Even just being "cold" relative to someone else (temperature).

Locus of perception isn't really a "phrase" that is accepted, though it would merit some Cog Psych research to quantify the phenomena above.

> well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water

I'm not sure whether it's my brain, or 'me' that's saying it, but this is pretty much what I tell myself every time something 'bad' happens to me. Works like a charm.

> Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

You should maybe look into getting a more compassionate brain.

In what way is your message to him helpful?

That's ridiculous. You've never felt upset about a girl (or guy) , or because you lost your job, or just because you had a shitty day? You can probably rationalise it away as 'well people are worse off than me' but it likely doesn't make you feel a whole bunch better.

You're right, I could have worded that differently and better. What I intended to say was that even then, there's usually some thoughts about being happy for the wonderful things I do have, bubbling in the background (not continuously, of course). And like you said, I also try not to go with the "some people have it much worse" line of reasoning.

Staring at an empty bank account, a pile of bills & wondering how you're paying rent next month does a remarkable job at distracting you from the emotional aspect of getting fired as well.

Yes, thank goodness for being broke.

so true. just that if they superimpose then for sure you go into depression. Now that can be life changing.

I really hope this is sarcasm.

hammering a nail through your foot supposedly cures your headache too. At least in the short term.

Oh the tears of sorrow the poor guy will shed into his heated swimming pool after being ejected from such a respectable business, with 200 million to his name...

I don't think I have been this touched ever since Lassie died.

Lassie died?!

Got stuck in a well after Jimmy went off to war. The new dog was a pug, and was averse to leaving the couch. The family assumed she ran away.

Hush, don't let the bad man's lies scare you. Lassie is still alive and she's with Santa's Little Helper in a doggie spa in the maldives.

Maybe they meant Old Yeller.

Because wealthy people don't experience passion. Down with the 1%! #occupy

I should imagine that staring at $200 does a lot to lessen the pain. Groupon has been a big scam from the start and to come out of that with a huge pile if cash is nothing short of a scandal. In America the banks nearly bring down the whole of the western world's economies and we bail them out so they can give themselves huge bonuses instead if sending them to jail. And this guy gets to spend the rest if his life in luxury leaving behind a miserable bunch of share holders and customers.

Yes, how dare people make money. Those bastards!

"Make" fine, but the post you responded to said they were a scam. Surely you don't imagine that any way one can make money is noble? On the off chance that you do, would you mind telling me where I could find you after dark with lots of cash on you and no firearm?

I think claiming Groupon is a scam is a pretty subjective statement.

And the answer to your question is never all three :)

I'm afraid he can't read that from behind his mountain of money.

It may feel awful but the previous poster's point was probably that there's no stress to go along with it. For middle class people who get fired they may have all those feelings and effects as well but they also have the stress of needing to get a job within a few weeks.

He is still serving as a director on the board, so it's not as if he's being booted out of the company. He (or the shareholders) may choose to change that, but for the time being he is still involved directly in the well-being of the company. This would be a great opportunity to learn how to manage the company the way it should be (Groupon Hate aside) and perhaps return as CEO in the future or be better prepared for whatever is next.

I liked how down to earth it was, but also thought that he is probably laughing all the way to the bank.

Perhaps not laughing, and I don't mean he was malicious, just that I'd surely have a bit of a snicker if I had a run that was half as good as he did.

This is the exact reason you want your CEO to have a good cushion: So you can fire him from one day to the next, or even discuss with him over a longer period of time that he'll have to go, and have as few worries as possible that he's going to take it reasonably well.

Personally I think it's exactly the reason why you don't want your CEO to have a cushion - he doesn't really care, it doesn't really matter to him that his former company is going down the toilet as he's cashed out long ago.

Cashing out is not thesame as not caring. Didn't Steve Job cash out when Apple fired him, but when he returned, he still cared enough to do awesome things. Why would you want the CEO of a public or big company to be worrying about his personal finance instead of the business. There is a reason why even hired CEO's are well compensated.

You want a CEO's interests to be aligned with the company's, which is why most CEOs are given share options that will be worth something in 3 - 5 years, large bonuses based on success, and so on.

Steve Jobs cashed out when Apple fired him, but when they hired him back they also gave him large numbers of stock options [1], worth billions after he'd resurrected the company.

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs#Wealth

I definitely have more money than I had 10 years back, but the feelings I go through when I'm hurt are the same.

Very classy. Keep in mind, though, that it makes is somewhat easier to take being fired in stride when you have a $200 million cushion.

== Wait what? If you have to say it, it probably aint.

Gracious would have been a better word, but I was in a hurry when I typed that (there is also a typo in there that I didn't notice until hours later after I couldn't edit it).

Its not a wordsmithing issue. Its PR. It is not "class" or "grace". If you study the Co's history, this would become clear. The withdrawls of cash from the company by its senior management, for example, are "classic" but not "classy".

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