
How Jeff Bezos advertised for the first Amazon employees (1994) - heelhook
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/how-jeff-bezos-advertised-for-the-first-amazon-employees-1994-20101228/
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Mithrandir
The ad on mi.jobs:
<https://groups.google.com/group/mi.jobs/msg/d81b6c1fa8f361fc>

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pud
I like that Bezos posted it at 1:31 a.m. local time.

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dangrossman
What is up with the terrible street naming around Seattle? N.E. 28th Street?
Not just 28th street? And it's one block south of N.E. 28th Place? There's an
S.E. 28th Street further east?

How did anyone get around this place before GPS?

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andyking
I've never been to Seattle, but coming from Europe I found it very logical
when I visited Grand Rapids, MI earlier in the year. There, they append a
compass point on each street depending what area of the city it's in - Lake
Drive SE, Wealthy St SW, 28th St SW and so on. It took me a little while to
fathom, but it turned out these main thoroughfares keep their name right
across the city, so the compass points help you keep your bearings.

I love your grid systems (and I'm sad enough to sit and look at maps of them
for hours) - I find it really difficult to get lost in the USA. Everything's
just so logically laid out when you're used to European maze-like towns and
cities. My small English town (11,000 people) is easier to get lost in than a
city the size of South Bend or Grand Rapids.

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barrkel
I have exactly the opposite reaction. I can't stand the grid. I love cities I
can get lost in. Streets that wind and wend are my favourite; ideally with a
mix of canals and shortcuts. Wide, broad, straight streets are to my mind
inhuman: built for grandeur and ego of despots in old cities, for cars in new
ones. I like pedestrianized streets on a human scale, with organic layout and
a mix of residential and retail. My home town of Galway, Ireland approaches
the optimimum of small size that gives walkability and scale that gives
diversity. Larger cities can be and often are formed like constellations of
such smaller towns

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ggwicz
I love getting lost in cities too, but if I'm in a rush nothing beats the
simple "streets go this way, avenues go that way" grid of NYC. (that's just
what I say in my head with matching hand motions)

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Sukotto
That's only actually true between 14th and 187th streets in Manhattan. The
other (80%? 90%?) of NYC has locally consistent, but globally inconsistent,
street layouts.

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ggwicz
Wow I never knew that. Very interesting... It seems to be a global thing.
Guess not!

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puranjay
Why not submit the original RRW post instead of the one from Geek.com?

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speedracr
My guess: OP saw the link in Kevin Ko's blog post on "Startup - one year in"
(also on HN front page), where Kevin Ko mentions the geek.com article in a
Yammer post he did.

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realschool
I like the last paragraph "So next time you see a job listing for a new start-
up, just remember Amazon started the same way, and that new listing might just
be for a company that turns out to be the next Amazon, or Facebook, or
Google."

It could also be the next 'pets.com'

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ggwicz
_So next time you see a job listing for a new start-up, just remember Amazon
started the same way, and that new listing might just be for a company that
turns out to be the next Amazon, or Facebook, or Google._

I think this is a little hopeful. Sometimes I'll look quickly on Craigslist
just to see if there are any local projects, and there are _always_ at least a
handful of job listings read very similarly to Bezos' ad...

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brain5ide
I wonder whether this post views as stereotypical to you guys, like it's said
in the comments @geek.com?

I personally don't think so, as I haven't seen a job ad stating that kind of
performance threshold.

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ggwicz
I think in the context of 1994, there probably weren't many people posting
jobs like this. But _nowadays_ , literally tons of posts on Craiglist say the
same thing as Bezos.

But it's just reality to me. People often point to one thing and make
generalizations.

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speedracr
What's up with the "well-capitalized start-up" part? I vaguely remember Bezos
working in finance and using funds from that. Who else financed Amazon?

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Helianthus
and not once did he use anything approaching an ego term like "rock star."

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mseebach
This reeks of "rock star" ego:

"...and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most
competent people think possible"

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jiggy2011
The problem with that I feel is that it really asks more about your perception
of your abilities rather than your abilities.

Someone who has come from a background where they hung out with the top of
their MIT class probably doesn't see themselves as too much above average.

Whereas somebody who was the dogs bollocks as some crappy diploma mill
probably thinks they're the best thing ever.

