Let's face it. When you're looking for work in the industry of your dreams, it's really easy to think wishfully. No one wants to suspect that so many start-up companies are here to rip you off.
Sometimes you don't plan on working for free, but you end up working for free.
How does that happen? Start-ups are notorious for looking for young people who have no problem working for free. If you don't have rent to pay and just love to code, you may be completely fine working for free. And start-ups know that.
They wishfully think that this type of person is you.
They may also ignore and avoid your subtle attempts to discuss money and negotiate contracts with you as well. You may feel rude asking about money, and you may trust that they're going to do what's right and pay you. This kind of trust is tragically dangerous.
So let's look at some warning signs at when a company expects you to work for free, and are so eager to get the app built, that they plan to put your protests against them not paying you on their backburner. The far, far-back burner.
1. They don't reply to emails or texts asking about money.
They're usually very talkative and responsive, but when you email them about compensation or ask how much you're going to be paid, they don't reply back.
This has happened to me, personally, countless times. Sometimes there is a contract in place, and sometimes not. But the contract does not usually have a due date about when the payment is owed. I never sign a contract without a payment due date, to this day.
2. They don't use full and complete sentences when quoting how much they will pay you.
"How about 40?" Forty what? Cents? Dollars? Thousand dollars? A month? A year? You can assume that they meant 40k a year, but they're definitely avoiding letting you quote them, so they're saying it in a very obscure way.
A boss of mine said, "how about 40" in a very uncertain way, when talking about how much I would be paid. He then refused to sign a contract with a due date on it, expected me to work 10 hours a day and failed to pay other people in the office, including a two engineers, electrical contractors, the alarm system installation company and the plumber. They came into the office asking me where the CEO was, because he hadn't paid them. The alarm system company had my number and called my cell phone asking why the bill wasn't paid. I had no access to the company bank accounts.
He paid me on time because I threatened to leave unless he wrote in a due date for my payments into the contract.
3. They change the subject back to what it is that you need to do for them.
Instead of talking about compensating you, they're always talking about the work you need to do for them. Avoiding the conversation in general is a red flag, and it becomes clear that they are more about building the Great Pyramids in 3 weeks with no respect for you, and those working to build the product. Should you be offended? Very.
Distracting you by changing the subject is a common way to avoid being held accountable to pay you for your work. If they can just keep you distracted and forgetting (or being too intimidated) to ask about payment, keep you focused on the work, they can get you to finish the work and then deal with your protests later. If you ask for payment after you're done with the work, and there's no contract covering you, good luck trying to get paid at that point. They're not too worried about you trying to sue them because you have no documentation or evidence that they were "supposed to pay you."
4. Gaslighting you when you ask for money.
"Are you okay?" is a great way to intensify any feelings of awkwardness you already have about asking for payment. You may stop yourself before asking about payment, wondering if you're being too pushy. They can play upon this guilt and fear we have of being impolite. If you weren't worried about that, you would have made sure there was a contract that said how much and when you're getting paid, from the start. So asking, "are you upset about something?" in an innocent way is a tactic I've seen employed by CEO's, to make you seem irrational for being concerned about whether or not you're being paid. Turns out in the end, this CEO isn't paying half of the people he has working on his product. So you have every reason to be concerned, and this innocent-sounding manipulation is a tactic.
5. They ask you your age and try to explain the industry to you
Remember how I said that some people don't have to pay rent? And how CEO's hope that you live with your parents and you "don't even need money?" They also hope that you're too young and naive to bother making them pay you. They like free labor. They may have hired you because they're hoping you're fine with being paid next to nothing. But even if you are young, you still need to start standing up for yourself and negotiating pay or soon, you'll be 30 and you still will have difficulty negotiating contracts.
These are some of the ways that start-up companies prey on people who want to be in the industry, who want to be polite, who don't know how to negotiate a contract, and who figure that they can just sue anybody. You might notice something doesn't feel quite right in a conversation and you should listen to yourself and your sense of concern. These people skills are just as important as the skills you bring to the industry, if you want to self-sustain as a contractor / freelancer or small business.
Sometimes you don't plan on working for free, but you end up working for free.
How does that happen? Start-ups are notorious for looking for young people who have no problem working for free. If you don't have rent to pay and just love to code, you may be completely fine working for free. And start-ups know that.
They wishfully think that this type of person is you.
They may also ignore and avoid your subtle attempts to discuss money and negotiate contracts with you as well. You may feel rude asking about money, and you may trust that they're going to do what's right and pay you. This kind of trust is tragically dangerous.
So let's look at some warning signs at when a company expects you to work for free, and are so eager to get the app built, that they plan to put your protests against them not paying you on their backburner. The far, far-back burner.
1. They don't reply to emails or texts asking about money.
They're usually very talkative and responsive, but when you email them about compensation or ask how much you're going to be paid, they don't reply back.
This has happened to me, personally, countless times. Sometimes there is a contract in place, and sometimes not. But the contract does not usually have a due date about when the payment is owed. I never sign a contract without a payment due date, to this day.
2. They don't use full and complete sentences when quoting how much they will pay you.
"How about 40?" Forty what? Cents? Dollars? Thousand dollars? A month? A year? You can assume that they meant 40k a year, but they're definitely avoiding letting you quote them, so they're saying it in a very obscure way.
A boss of mine said, "how about 40" in a very uncertain way, when talking about how much I would be paid. He then refused to sign a contract with a due date on it, expected me to work 10 hours a day and failed to pay other people in the office, including a two engineers, electrical contractors, the alarm system installation company and the plumber. They came into the office asking me where the CEO was, because he hadn't paid them. The alarm system company had my number and called my cell phone asking why the bill wasn't paid. I had no access to the company bank accounts.
He paid me on time because I threatened to leave unless he wrote in a due date for my payments into the contract.
3. They change the subject back to what it is that you need to do for them.
Instead of talking about compensating you, they're always talking about the work you need to do for them. Avoiding the conversation in general is a red flag, and it becomes clear that they are more about building the Great Pyramids in 3 weeks with no respect for you, and those working to build the product. Should you be offended? Very.
Distracting you by changing the subject is a common way to avoid being held accountable to pay you for your work. If they can just keep you distracted and forgetting (or being too intimidated) to ask about payment, keep you focused on the work, they can get you to finish the work and then deal with your protests later. If you ask for payment after you're done with the work, and there's no contract covering you, good luck trying to get paid at that point. They're not too worried about you trying to sue them because you have no documentation or evidence that they were "supposed to pay you."
4. Gaslighting you when you ask for money.
"Are you okay?" is a great way to intensify any feelings of awkwardness you already have about asking for payment. You may stop yourself before asking about payment, wondering if you're being too pushy. They can play upon this guilt and fear we have of being impolite. If you weren't worried about that, you would have made sure there was a contract that said how much and when you're getting paid, from the start. So asking, "are you upset about something?" in an innocent way is a tactic I've seen employed by CEO's, to make you seem irrational for being concerned about whether or not you're being paid. Turns out in the end, this CEO isn't paying half of the people he has working on his product. So you have every reason to be concerned, and this innocent-sounding manipulation is a tactic.
5. They ask you your age and try to explain the industry to you
Remember how I said that some people don't have to pay rent? And how CEO's hope that you live with your parents and you "don't even need money?" They also hope that you're too young and naive to bother making them pay you. They like free labor. They may have hired you because they're hoping you're fine with being paid next to nothing. But even if you are young, you still need to start standing up for yourself and negotiating pay or soon, you'll be 30 and you still will have difficulty negotiating contracts.
These are some of the ways that start-up companies prey on people who want to be in the industry, who want to be polite, who don't know how to negotiate a contract, and who figure that they can just sue anybody. You might notice something doesn't feel quite right in a conversation and you should listen to yourself and your sense of concern. These people skills are just as important as the skills you bring to the industry, if you want to self-sustain as a contractor / freelancer or small business.
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