[hn_neverguess]

Extending a job offer to someone means you met with them on multiple occasions, remotely and in person. I know I am not going to forget their face in 10 years. Would I feel a bit less wronged about them after 10 years? Of course. Would I lie in a backchannel reference? No.

[Apocryphon]

How does a founder with twenty years of experience bear such grudges against a single errant hire that got away? Either this whole hypothetical is talking about an employee number one type situation, or you must have been blessed with having never met anyone underhanded in all of your business dealings.

"Feeling a bit less wronged" is one thing, "making sure that everyone knows how I feel about you" is quite another.

[hn_neverguess]

There's also a lot of middle ground: - a friend is looking to take a bet on this guy in his company.

- we're looking for new members for our camp and this guy shows up.

- a female friend meets him on a dating app and tells me about him.

- this guy is being considered for a lateral move within his next company, and the hiring manager is a friend of mine.

- we're on the fence about keeping this guy or letting him go.

- etc, etc.

[mynameisvlad]

I doubt your memory and vengeance is nearly as crazy a decade since any event (however wronged by it you may perceive yourself to be) -- let alone something as incredibly benign as someone rescinding an offer.

In short, while you say that now, I highly doubt it actually would be the case were this hypothetical a reality. You'd have to be incredibly thin-skinned and vengeful to carry this much weight to something so minor.