While this is certainly a behavior that should be frowned upon I'm not sure it should be completely castigated in the way that it is. I've met quite a few entrepreneurs and many of them have told me that early on they either bent or broke many rules including doing things that are unethical.
I'm not sure if this is just from poor sample size, but it seems to be somewhat necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. For what it's worth, many of the entrepreneurs I know became increasingly more legitimate as they got out of startup mode. I think to some degree it's just a part of the game, the odds are against you so you need to do everything in your power to increase your chances of success.
I would really like to hear what other founders think. Is this commonplace or are the people that I've talked to borderline criminals?
It's commonplace in my experience. I wouldn't call it borderline criminal, but many startups cross moral lines. I find it absolutely despicable, that people can rationalize their ethics away. "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but when we have revenue we can afford to do the right thing.", and other the-end-justifies-the-means rubbish.
It's easy (and perhaps even tempting) to cut corners but what good are ethics when you throw them out the moment they become inconvenient?
So yes, the behavior is to be castigated, and I have no respect for people who're willing to fuck their customers/users/suppliers in order to make it as an entrepreneur.
I'm not sure if this is just from poor sample size, but it seems to be somewhat necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. For what it's worth, many of the entrepreneurs I know became increasingly more legitimate as they got out of startup mode. I think to some degree it's just a part of the game, the odds are against you so you need to do everything in your power to increase your chances of success.
I would really like to hear what other founders think. Is this commonplace or are the people that I've talked to borderline criminals?