While start-ups and their founders may benefit from behaving like ethical pirates, they should never behave like sociopathic criminals. Besides the fact that such an approach is morally wrong, as a practical matter, you simply can’t build a world-changing company as an outlaw, and it is difficult to make the shift from deviant to mainstream society. And this is particularly true in a world where social media is quick to shine a spotlight on unethical practices that can tarnish a company’s reputation forever. Go afoul of the law, and your customers will neither forgive nor forget.
