

Developer Auction Hires 19 Year Old Thiel Fellow As COO - allangrant
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/21/developerauction-sujay-tyle?hacker=news

======
lightyrs
I think this is an interesting model and Sujay definitely seems like a
talented fellow, however, am I the only one repulsed by the name "Developer
Auction"?

It makes me think of another kind of auction of human labor — Slave Auction. I
don't like the objectification of talented engineers or humans in general.

~~~
rdl
Auctions are the most efficient way to do price discovery for unique or
difficult to price assets. I'd sure rather be a "unique and difficult to price
asset" than a commodity, cog, etc.

~~~
lightyrs
I'm not arguing about the semantic validity of the name. Brands are about more
than their semantic meaning, namely, the perceptions they generate. Developer
Auction makes me think of Slave Auction. That's not good.

------
tazzy531
Feedback on the Developer Auction site:

Why does it insist on me creating a profile for me to navigate around the
site? I'd like to figure out how it works before I commit to creating a
profile.

Secondly, if a profile is created, why are "Why are you interested in new job
opportunities?" and "When are you available to start a new full-time job (if
the right opportunity comes along)?" required fields?

There is no indication on the profile creation page who will actually view
this data and because of that, I will end up closing the browser and moving
on. To raise conversion, it would be more beneficial to allow people to create
a profile and then put themselves on the market at a point that they decide.

Just a thought...

~~~
allangrant
> To raise conversion, it would be more beneficial to allow people to create a
> profile and then put themselves on the market at a point that they decide.

That is exactly how it works, although it sounds like we did not do a good job
communicating it.

\- first you create a profile, and submit it for review (not visible to ANYONE
except for site admins at this point)

\- receive an invitation to participate in an auction

\- opt-in to the auction

\- only then, when an auction starts, your profile will visible (and only to
pre-approved employers during the course of the two week auction)

Thanks for the suggestion - we need to communicate this more clearly during
the signup flow.

~~~
tazzy531
I understand that's exactly how it works. I was just pointing out the friction
points.

The example that I pointed out is a major cognitive leap for an user and
you'll see a high drop off rate at that point. For an user like me, I'm happy
with my current position for the moment and I haven't thought about what time
frame I am looking to make a jump but I may be willing to make a jump if the
right opportunity comes along. The question of "When are you available to
start a new full-time job?" is a major turnoff for me because I haven't made
the cognitive leap to actually apply for a job.

DeveloperAuction should be in the position of collecting as many highly
qualified people as they can whether or not they are actively looking. Over
time, you can use this database to raise conversion by tempting/teasing the
people in your system. Example: "Hey, XYZ, I know you said you aren't
currently on the market, but there are these 8 companies that are looking for
your EXACT skillset, might you reconsider?" What you'll find is that top
talent are never actually "looking" but rather a better offer comes their way.

Also, I'm on the belief that registration forms should not turn people away
(via required fields/errors) but rather encourage people to provide more
information to gain more functionality (ie "Please tell us these information
to submit your profile for review" or "You're 90% of the way there, provide
this information to get closer to completing your profile.")

Anyways, just a thought. Best of luck to you guys.

------
minimaxir
Honest question, because I'm confused and still don't understand HN
completely:

Why was Sujay's age added to the title of the submission when his age isn't
even mentioned _at all_ in the original article?

~~~
drtse4
I tend to automatically flag posts with a title like this one, usually devoid
of any content worth reading.

See this recently killed post:
[http://vishnumenon.com/2013/01/21/im-35-months-old-and-i-
mad...](http://vishnumenon.com/2013/01/21/im-35-months-old-and-i-made-this-
cool-app/)

HN discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5093365>

~~~
minimaxir
Thanks for that, looks like I missed it.

------
jvrossb
Sujay is a good friend and top knotch guy. Developer Auction is lucky to have
him.

