

What qualities are important in choosing someone to hire or finding a partner to work with - ratsbane

What order would you put these traits in?  
Anything else to look for?<p>(Of course, also realizing that your potential employee or partner should be evaluating you in the same way.)<p>A) Compatible personality - someone with whom you enjoy working<p>B) Deep knowledge in whatever platform you're using<p>C) Broad knowledge in a computing topics; familiarity with other languages and platforms; experience solving problems in diverse computing environments<p>D) Subject matter expert in the domain you're working on - accounting, medicine, education, industry, public relations, etc.<p>E) Enthusiasm<p>F) Curiosity<p>G) Education<p>H) Logistics - person lives near you or is willing and able to relocate<p>I) Stability - can the candidate live with his or her means during tough times?<p>J) History of completing things<p>K) Communicates well<p>L) Polite<p>(not listed in any order)

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pg
If you want a cofounder for a startup: sanity, trustworthiness, determination,
general intelligence, hacking skills, and ability to do things you're bad at.

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palish
'Sanity' made me chuckle. It's important, but it's like listing 'not a serial
killer'.

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pg
Serial killers are one in a million, if that, whereas I suspect at least 1% of
good hackers are too crazy to work with.

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palish
That's interesting. Can you say why you suspect that without naming names, or
list some traits that would make someone too crazy to work with? Did anything
specific happen at a company you can talk about?

I can't think of anything that would qualify any of the dozen or so
programmers I know as crazy. It'd be interesting to know what a crazy hacker
is like.

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far33d
If you haven't met the 1% he's talking about... it might be you :)

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palish
It'd be arrogant to rule that possibility out, but I'm cheerful.

Especially when I have dinner arrangements with Hannibal.

Hey, wanna tag along sometime? We'd love to have a friend for dinner.

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ahsonwardak
I hate to be so Covey's Seven Habits, but you gotta find someone that has the
passion, skills, ethics, and temperament. These are the leadership skills
needed to avert the worst situations.

They've gotta be able to communicate and be open-minded. And most of all, they
have to have these qualities in lieu of a big ego. Sometimes, we
20-something's think we know a lot more than we actually do. I think the best
of us are those that can listen attentively to contrary opinions.

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epi0Bauqu
<http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/startups/team.html>

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startupstarter
Thank you so much for the link, it's the best I've read on the subject.

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Kaizyn
If someone has curiosity, good communication skills, and a modicum of coding
skills, that's all you really need. Domain, platform, and computer science
knowledge can all be acquired as needed. Compatible personality is moderately
useful; however, you can always get around conflicts by partitioning the
project into areas where you designate one or the other of you as the head
overseer who gets dictatorial powers in that area.

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nmeyer
Nunchuck skills.

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kleine2
It's too hard to follow the order that someone types. Is there a more user
friendly way to present this information?

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mdakin
Creativity [1] is another very important characteristic to have on the team.
And luckily you can detect the most creative people within minutes of talking
to them about hard problems.

[1] n. the use of the imagination or original ideas (O.A.D.)

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superhelix
The critical two attributes in a successful partner without question are raw
brainpower and an unwavering determination to succeed. Everything else is
gravy.

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nanijoe
raw brainpower is over rated

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binnymathews
I agree - sheer enthusiasm and get it done attitude makes up and then some
more for raw brainpower.

Something else that is important in the context of compatible personality is
someone who is very direct and critical when needed.

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ratsbane
That's a good point. The ability to disagree well is useful. I'd rather work
with someone who won't automatically rubber-stamp everything I say but
instead, when he disagrees, can argue his points in a clear and well-informed
way. It is rather satisfying to be proven wrong and learn something in the
process.

A friend of mine who works at Goog since the early days has noted several
times that he frequently feels like the dumbest person in the room. He's quite
bright and probably would be the smartest person in MOST rooms.

I think I would rather work somewhere I would feel like the dumbest person in
the room than the smartest.

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staunch
One I'd add: Resilience. The ability to have frustrating disagreements or
problems and get past them easily without the build up of any residual
resentment.

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kashif
I think you might be checking too many things, which will make it almost
impossible to hire someone. I would just evaluate on A,C, E, F, H, K

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Neoryder
Question, from A to L what do qualities do you think you already have?

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nostrademons
A, E, J, F, K, D, B, H, I, C, L, G

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yamada
Mental problems. I jest not. All (financially) successful people I know have
serious mental problems. It's that special little fire in the belly that keeps
you warm all those hard, lonely nights until you make it. Plus the extra
voices in your head keep you company late at night. Oh and sexual frustration.
Sublimation is a powerful tool if used properly. How many sexually satisfied
folks with hot girlfriends who tend to their needs regularly do you know who
are part of startups? None? Think about it. Your startup is your mistress. And
professionalism. The ability to wait until after you've hit the jackpot to
write that article about what a jackass your partner is, but to use the
tension as fuel until you do so. Delusions of grandeur helps.

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ratsbane
Good answer. I think you might be right. I'm afraid you might be right.

