Ask HN: Did you ever do anything unethical to get your startup off the ground?
Greg posted a nice compilation of shady tactics used during the startup period of major internet companies at <a href="http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/11/ruthless-enough-for-startup.html" rel="nofollow">http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/11/ruthless-enough-for-star...</a><p>A quick summary:<p><i>Facebook</i>: Spammed Harvard Students<p><i>BitTorrent</i>: Free Porn as Initial Bait<p><i>MySpace</i>: Spammed >100M on Launch Date<p>It appears as if (slightly) shady techniques can give you the advantage you need to succeed.