F*ck You, Pay Me talk by Mike Monteiro
Shares rank 6 of 15 conference talks by recommenders
Recommended as an evergreen, funny talk on getting paid as a designer or freelancer. A mixed take notes that it addresses the emotional side while the structural payment problem remains.
Recommended as an evergreen, funny talk on getting paid as a designer or freelancer. A mixed take notes that it addresses the emotional side while the structural payment problem remains.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Famous talk people remember
“Reminder of Mike Monteiro's famous 2011 talk, "Fuck You, Pay Me"”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Ask HN: How do you handle clients who don't pay on time?” “Mike Monteiro's talk 'F*ck you, pay me' comes to mind.”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “What Being Ripped Off Taught Me”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Emotional side only, not structure
“he nails the emotional side of it but the structural problem is still there”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “51% of freelancers experience non-payment – payment-gated delivery as a solution”
Other conference talks people recommend
The four most recommended other conference talks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Made Easy by Rich Hickey | 22 | 1 | 96% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Birth and Death of JavaScript by Gary Bernhardt | 11 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Video Lectures | 11 | 1 | 92% | 3 | — | — |
| Wat by Gary Bernhardt | 9 | 1 | 90% | 5 | — | — |
| F*ck You, Pay Me talk by Mike MonteiroThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Mike Monteiro's talk 'F*ck you, pay me' comes to mind.”
“Evergreen advice from the design side”
“Reminder of Mike Monteiro's famous 2011 talk, "Fuck You, Pay Me"”
“he nails the emotional side of it but the structural problem is still there”
“Advice to students that is funny and accurate”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.