I was screwed over by some startup founders that tricked me into working for free under the guise of &quot;demonstrating mastery of Rails&quot; and &quot;proving my culture fit,&quot; but I wouldn&#x27;t call those guys evil, just jerks.<p>So how does a situation like that happen?  You justify it to yourself to cut corners in order to succeed, and because you&#x27;re a job creator in America, you&#x27;re entitled to respect in the end.