My little experience working with AltaVista!
 

Alright guys!
From the thread "worst job I ever had" I said I would describe my experience at AltaVista. So hear it goes......

Basically I started getting into Web Design about 5 years ago. I started at a company called ZIP2. I was a contractor for about 6 months. I then experienced my first buyout. Altavista decided to buy ZIP2 for 330 million dollars and said they were going to keep the entire staff. I then had some great directors who were looking out for a kid who was only 18. ME! I received my first offer ever. $45,000 plus 15,000 shares of stock! WOW I was on top of the world. Well let me tell you how excitement turns to disappointment really quick. :feels-hot

After about 2 months and new release of the shittiest product I've ever seen, AltaVista was about to go down. Being a Junior designer really screwed me cause my peers wouldn't listen to my criticsm or my comments. Well that was alright cause I knew I was young and I would get my time to prove myself. So now comes the worst experience ever. A company called CMGI came in and decided to take majority share from Compaq and buy out most of AltaVista. Heres where it gets tricky! By law when a company buys out another the company, the company being bought no longer exists. Ex. ZIP2 no longer exists. What happened was CMGI broke out the engineering employees from Zip2 and put them into Altavista. Then MyWay, a subsidiary of CMGI, was then given the rest of the ZIP2 employees. Now since I worked in the Zip2 portion I was given a new offer letter. Which was 15,000 less with less stock given my right up to the AltaVista stock. Now the CMGI people gave me 3 days to comply or pack my bags. Let me remind you that I was a contractor for ZIP2, but then hired after the merger as an AltaVista employee. So since I have a great Uncle in the Law field here in San Jose, I presented him with this dilemma. Needless to say I am now enjoying a great lawsuit for my shares of stock plus wrongful termination! I laugh to this day as Worldcom, Enron , AOL , Johnson & Johnson get screwed because I know if I can't trust VP's and CEOs being in the company, why should people outside the company trust them.
My Advice stick to real estate for investment. Population gets bigger every day and everyone is going to need a house!
Hope everyone enjoyed this true story and hit me up on ICQ if you have any questions for me.

Oh yeah the person who started ZIP2 , ELON MUSK , Made out like a bandit on the buyout. He then started a company called X.com when then merged with a company we all know as PAYPAL! What a lucky bastard!:321GFY

huh?

ya, real estate has been doing very well lately. :thumbsup