

A Twist To Y Combinator’s ‘Demo Day’: Pitching To Programmers - huckle
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/05/25/a-twist-to-y-combinators-demo-day-pitching-to-programmers/

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gaborcselle
I love how YCombinator is such a big brand now that the WSJ can put its name
in a headline without any further explanation.

A year ago, the title would have been "Incubator has startups pitch to
programmers, not investors".

~~~
michael_nielsen
It's the WSJ's "Venture Capital Dispatch" blog. I doubt YC would (yet) appear
in the title of a regular WSJ article.

------
edw519
_Why is it so hard to find programmers? Are people afraid of joining a start-
up?_

Let's not overlook the big differences between working at most start-ups and
working at most companies:

1\. Every programmer, no matter how good, is at least a little insecure. Every
one of us doesn't know _something_. Is the something you don't know going to
make or break the next project? In a start-up, there's rarely a safety net to
catch you, but in a larger company, there's probably a better chance that
someone else can help you along.

2\. It takes a special mentality to work in a less certain environment. This
is more a matter of personality than skill. My mentor was fearless. He used to
say, "I didn't know I couldn't do it, so I did it." This attitude, as much as
skill, determines how well one would thrive in a start-up.

3\. What happens when things go wrong? (And they will go wrong.) The ability
to recover from problems in a larger company is a great asset. In a startup,
it's a necessity. I've met many enterprise programmers who could crank out
great code between 8 and 5, but melted under the pressure of an all night
emergency. They would never survive in a startup.

4\. What happens if you don't feel well or if your mind is "someplace else"?
In a larger company, you could coast for a day or two (maybe more). That's
rarely an option in a start-up; time lost is time lost forever.

5\. In a larger company, you can do quite well whether you have deep domain
knowledge or you're a jack of all trades. In an early start-up, you better be
both.

6\. Ever wonder why waterfall development refuses to die, even though it's not
as effective? Because so many of us have to have a road map in order to
function. "Road map" personalities don't fare nearly as well in roadmapless
environments (many start-ups).

7\. A start-up programmer must have at least a little maverick blood. If you
believe everything you hear and do everything everyone else is doing, how can
you differentiate yourself? In a larger company, you may not have to. In a
start-up, you probably do.

8\. Is there something you simply have to do? Then you probably belong in a
start-up environment. It's tough (although not impossible) to get the same
opportunity in a large company.

9\. Do you think the work is really cool? I know lots of good enterprise
programmers, but have trouble thinking of very many who think their work is
cool. They like their jobs, but work is "just a paycheck". Not the type of
people who would thrive in a start-up.

10\. Do you do a happy dance whenever something works for the first time? Then
you may be more comfortable in a start-up than in a big company.

~~~
_delirium
There seems to be a work-life balance difference also. Depending on the large
company, it's at least possible to get a job that, most weeks, takes about 40
hours, mostly during the day, and leaves time for
friends/family/hiking/reading/whatever outside of that time. Many startups
seem to want someone for whom their job will _be_ their life--- some of the
job postings come close to saying so pretty explicitly! That can be
unappealing if you want to maintain a non-work-related life. I'd personally
only be willing to make my job my life if it were _my_ company.

~~~
drusenko
That is not the case at all startups. We make a huge effort to foster a solid
work-life balance at Weebly.

Yes, the founders do usually work quite a bit. But most everyone else works as
much or as little as they want during the week, as long as they are being
productive and get everything done they set out to at the beginning of the
week.

Ditto for vacation time. Take as much or as little as you need as long as
we're not in an emergency-mode (which rarely happens).

More than larger companies, I'd guess that startups have a much larger
variance in culture -- there are those that require you to commit your life,
and there are those that are able to foster a great work-life balance, it's
just a matter of choosing the right one.

~~~
_delirium
Interesting! Sounds like a nice culture. The key to it is maybe (?) this part:
"as long as we're not in an emergency-mode (which rarely happens)". My
impression is that the "which rarely happens" part varies quite a lot; some
places are in emergency mode every other week. Though to be fair, that's true
of some large companies too (EA has a reputation for being crunch time all the
time).

~~~
drusenko
About once every 6 months for us. To be fair, a major release might require a
tad more work than usual once every 2 months (think 1-2 extra hours per day
that week).

I think the key to making it work is keeping it small. If there were too many
people, nobody would feel individual responsibility and it would devolve into
a nobody comes into work culture.

As it is, some people come in to work at 9 and leave at 4:30, some 9-6, some
11-8, some 2-2 (whoops, that's just me :) -- depends on when you like to work.

Also, everybody has easy weeks and hard weeks, and there's no point sticking
around work if you've got nothing to do. Much better to work hard for 4 hours
a day on the easy weeks than stick around for an extra 4 hours depressed.

------
frazerb
I would love to see a bigger 'twist' than this. I would love to see the
<i>investors</i> pitching to the start-ups.

I would love to see investors put more effort into demonstrating the value
that they bring to young companies - over-and-above capital. Quite often it's
hard to get anything more than some pretty intangible statements on the topic.

I spent 9 months of my precious life schlopping round VCs in London (well, it
was 2001...). Sitting behind expensive oak tables in ostentatious board rooms
pitching for investment. Listening to what was in too many cases downright
arrogance on the part of the investors whose understanding of the market was
at best surfacial.

I think much of this world is gone (thankfully) but wouldn't it be nice to
hear the <i>investors' elevator pitch</i> for a change ?

------
argv_empty
_but it’s still tough for young start-ups to find talented computer
programmers in Silicon Valley_

Seems to me that the obvious solution is to recruit outside Silicon Valley.
You'll probably find candidates willing to relocate if it gets them back to
work (though a good proportion of them may be recent grads).

~~~
anamax
> Seems to me that the obvious solution is to recruit outside Silicon Valley.

What makes you think that it's easier elsewhere? Yes, there may be less demand
elsewhere, but there's also less supply.

Plus, SV folk are somewhat more likely to understand the game. That's a
positive and a negative.

~~~
j_baker
It's not easier elsewhere, but the more places you're willing to recruit from
the better. Which do you think has more good programmers: SV or the world?

~~~
anamax
The world, even excluding SV, has more good programmers, but existence isn't
enough.

> but the more places you're willing to recruit from the better

You're ignoring cost.

If local matters, then moving cost and "number available" matters.

There are many places with "enough" programmers to do {reasonable size
project}, but there aren't thousands, even if great programers can be found
almost anywhere.

There are fairly few places where there are "enough" programmers to do almost
anything. SV is one of them.

------
georgieporgie
"Why is it so hard to find programmers?"

In my experience recently, employers are demanding a hire who has _every
single_ bullet point, no exceptions.

I believe one of the more entertaining job listings I saw last year required
someone who had written embedded firmware, as well as Adobe Flash animation.

~~~
pg
I think the problem is supply and demand. There just aren't enough really good
programmers. Google alone seems willing and able to absorb all available
really good programmers, for some value of really good.

~~~
puredemo
I think this is partially because there are very few short programs that
attempt to teach people how to be good programmers. It's not like I can take a
college course on EC2 administration or on learning TurboGears.

