hey stephen, thanks for posting this on hn.
i know the founder you're talking about and i'm good friends with the person he exploited. if what you're saying is the truth (which i'm sure it is), i'm deeply frustrated that the founder is such an asshat and i'll be talking to him about this.
i try to stay optimistic about the world. people like him disgust me and i hope that there aren't too many more of them.