
Hashrocket: For $30,000 they'll build your web app in three days. - pius
http://hashrocket.com/
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naish
It might be just me, but the name leads me to believe that these guys are just
a bunch of stoners. "Hey, what if we call our company 'Hashrocket'?" [takes,
another hit off of the bong/pipe/spliff] "Great idea, man...."

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randallsquared
They have two "in progress" projects. I guess we should come back in three
business days (say, Thursday, Jan 24) and see what new projects they're doing
instead. ;)

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eznet
Their site doesn't render properly @ 1280X800 either. Also, the rendering is
inconsistent - if I refresh the site, it will render with "Building a success
web application is rocket science" over "our products"... hit refresh and it
renders correctly... hmmm... Also, you would think that for 30 grand you'd get
to pick the language of your choice?

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omouse
_Also, you would think that for 30 grand you'd get to pick the language of
your choice?_

That is actually the problem with many companies. The programmers are not the
ones that decide which language to use. They're forced to use Java or .NET
because the higher-ups want them to.

Why would you try and limit the productivity of a programming team by forcing
them to use tools they may not like or tools that are weak.

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halo
The downside is if their website design is anything to go by, it'll be as ugly
as sin and have severe usability issues.

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motoko
What's wrong with their website design? I liked it.

I see _some_ merit about complaints about iffy low resolution handling, but
the design is good.

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boucher
Well, for one, if your browser window isn't tall enough, you won't be able to
see any of their contact info.

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daniel-cussen
Obie Fernandez! Zed Shaw thinks he's cool, and that's all the credibility I
need. I would do business with Hashrocket if I worked in a big company.

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plinkplonk
"Zed Shaw thinks he's cool, and that's all the credibility I need."

This is a very dangerous way of thinking. You should judge people by more than
"X says ..." . There are any number of competent people who think Obie is
mostly blowing smoke and leaching off rails's popularity.

Obie essentially gave Zed a job when he needed one. You will never catch Zed
say Obie isn't cool after that.

If you know someone at Thoughtworks, where people actually worked with him
(and from where Obie left under a cloud ), talk to them to get a different
opinion.

of course, the best way to judge someone is to look at their code/work with
them for a while than "X says Y". You can get people saying anything about
other people if you look hard enough. I wouldn't want to bet my company (or
30,000 $ for that matter) on such flimsy evidence.

And even if Zed really means it when he says "Obie is cool" , that doesn't
make it right for your to bet your company on him. Quotes are no substitute
for doing your own research.

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daniel-cussen
I can't educate my guesses that much. Like you, I'm not in a position where
betting 30K on some dude I read about makes any sense. However, some people
are in that position. Big companies regularly pay consulting companies like
McKinsey hundreds of thousands and even millions for projects. The pay
hundreds of dollars an hour for IBM coders. People who pay these prices may
well be better served with a 30G project from Obie and a 14G website from
Electric Pulp than with whatever IBM and McKinsey charge.

NB: I don't know the numbers. However, I recall the ballpark as being around
300 dollars an hour for a software engineer, and 400K for a study on the
return on investment of a marketing campaign for a retailer. The first number
is according to Joel Spolsky, and the second is according to Steve Levitt. I'm
aware I'm risking arguments from authority here, too.

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edw519
I'll do it for $29,995.

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inovica
Good luck to them if they can get this. I'm sure that the 3-days will have
some caveat and they did say 1.0 in this time. If you were large enough, and
had the funds, you might go to these guys to get something out the door
quickly. From a PR angle also this will definitely get into the press.
Interesting to watch

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wallflower
Assuming they are working day and night, night and day that is close to
$417/hr. The aspect of hiring high-class code hookers (or if you find that
offensive, Ruby on Rails ninjas) aside, building a successful web site seems
to be more about your network's influence when you launch.

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bprater
Maybe there are 5 people on the team. That gets it down to $80/hr.

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wallflower
Yes, good point. Cheaper than a small team of lawyers. I remember a build-a-
website in 24 hours contest nine or so years ago - perhaps Obie and his team
might volunteer their productive capabilities for a deserving non-profit? I
think the right pro-bono project would generate good PR and better karma. I am
interested in seeing what (assuming the who, who comissioned the site allow
it) kind of customer experience can be built in three intensive days.

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mwmanning
Their page doesn't render correctly in my firefox session. Do you get a
discount if that happens to the site they build for you?

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edw519
Can't read "About" at 800 x 600. I guess I've been fired as a prospective
customer.

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ivankirigin
800x600 is below the "industry standard". To design for people with resolution
that low is to cater to laggards at the expense of the vast majority.

But if you're on a mobile device, the issue is much more complicated
obviously, and you get a pass :)

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edw519
The fact that their own web page doesn't render on every major browser or at
every standard resolution screans louder than anything they say on it.

If you disqualify "laggards" as prospects, maybe you don't deserve to succeed.

And if you think that servicing one type of customer is at the expense of
another, maybe you're not yet senior enough to be my vendor.

ADDENDUM:

Why is it that my hardest learned business lessons get downmodded so quickly?
Who here is such a good hacker that they could afford to leave money on the
table?

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blader
Here's a business lesson: don't implement features that cost more than your
expected marginal increase in revenue. e.g. supporting edge case platforms at
the expense of most of your users.

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ks
I loaded the home page in Internet Explorer 7 (should be main stream enough?).
The page generates javscript errors when I click a link...

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innernode
...have multiple heart attacks, male pattern baldness (the girls too) and eye
cancer to boot :)

