

How to get a job at a kick-ass startup (for programmers) - mrduncan
http://nathanmarz.com/blog/how-to-get-a-job-at-a-kick-ass-startup-for-programmers.html

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ivankirigin
It's amazing how symmetric but decoupled the problem is with good people
looking for great companies and great companies looking for good people. Adam
Wiggins from Heroku described it like dating sites: in theory, there are
plenty of people of all sexes looking for other people to date, copulate, or
marry -- but in practice getting to a match is quite hard. We might have been
talking about startup financing at the time, not hiring, but there the
situation is similar. Is there a name for this category of problem?

For me, networking really is an under-appreciated skill for engineers. It
makes finding something awesome much easier. Also, it seems like the best
thing I ever did to increase the size of my network was do a startup. You're
constantly talking to people about financing, biz dev, sales, or even just
commiserating / celebrating with other founders.

Dropbox is looking to hire some great people. Dropbox is an awesome place to
work with one of the best reputations in tech, which is great. But, it is
still hard to hire. [obligatory self serving link: <http://dropbox.com/jobs> ,
ask me anything: ivan@dropbox.com ]

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dschobel
whoa, when did you leave FB? congratulations, either way.

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ivankirigin
Yeah, thanks. Dropbox kicks some serious ass.

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sahillavingia
Caution: only works if you're a kick-ass programmer.

Strive to be that and getting a job becomes magnitudes easier. Sweet,
successful side projects are the staple of a kick-ass guy. Glad I got some
under my belt :)

~~~
mahmud
Not just kick-ass programmers. I have consulted with a lady who ran a small,
posh web-shop; she met me at the door and hushed me to tip-toe past a bunch of
interns fiddling with photoshop and drupal. Those kids got more respect
working for school credit, doing nothing but theming, than most of us get in
higher positions with other companies. She also made it a point to "take them
to the ATM" on Fridays as well.

OTOH, if you have never seen competent interns with a modicum of
responsibility, well, they're a sight to behold. They subcontract for bigger
shops and get no credit for their work, but their stuff looks like shrink-
wrapped orgasms dipped in pixel-perfect honey. Really awesome crew.

~~~
gaius
_She also made it a point to "take them to the ATM" on Fridays as well_

Raised eyebrow...

~~~
mahmud
It's widely understood that you don't pay interns. It interferes with their
learning experience, and undermines our institutional right to youth slavery.

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jwegan

        2. Observe the working conditions. They reveal a lot about the company's philosophies towards its employees.
        
        You're looking for top notch monitors, chairs, desks, and computers. Look at how much space each programmer has and if the environment is quiet or not.
        
        A top notch work environment is a good investment for maximizing the productivity of programmers and keeping them happy and healthy. Anything less than a top notch work environment is an indication that the company is overly focused on keeping costs low and is cheap with its employees.
        

I would disagree with this point. While it is important to have quality
monitors and computers, I don't think it is necessary for an early stage
startup to go splurging money on nice desks and chairs. In fact, some might
take it as a sign the startup is not spendthrift enough and thus more likely
to not have enough runway.

~~~
mechanical_fish
You can always tell the people who have yet to experience a symptom of RSI.

"Splurging"? A one-time cost of maybe a thousand dollars? For an employee
whose value is presumably somewhere north of $100 an hour?

If you can't raise the money for a decent desk by, say, the fourth month I
think it's reasonable to question your company's future. Find cheaper office
space, spend a couple of days consulting, pick stuff out of the dumpsters in
back of a larger company, whatever, but get yourselves some decent tools.

~~~
leftnode
Use doors for desks (a huge door desk might cost you $50 and 2 hours a
Saturday afternoon) and spent a lot of money on chairs.

~~~
timr
As someone who has bad wrists from working on shitty desks, I can assure you
that it matters. A good desk a fraction of an employee's annual cost. If you
can't afford a desk, you can't afford to hire.

~~~
prodigal_erik
A desk is just a sturdy flat thing, how can that go wrong? Did you have chairs
that didn't adjust to its height?

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wahnfrieden
Most chairs don't adjust high enough to achieve a 90degree elbow bend with the
average non-adjustable desk.

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bananaandapple
Not wanting to sound too negative, but sometimes it's better not to have a job
at a kcik-ass startup.

The author also commented/wrote in the past that he endured burn out multiple
times and is constantly working >10 hours a day.

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nathanmarz
I work a lot by choice. And getting burnt out was a problem of learning to use
my time effectively. Now that I have more self-discipline and force myself to
take breaks on a regular schedule (and not work when I'm not feeling it), I
don't burn out anymore.

~~~
darwinGod
Could you shed more light on aspects of your self-discipline while being an
early employee at a startup?

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johnnyn
Great list. I would add that if a resume is required, a well designed resume
is important especially if it's a front-end or generalist engineering role.
Kick ass startups look through hundreds of resumes, and first impressions are
a big deal.

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robobenjie
A resume is good but a portfolio of cool projects is way better. We are trying
to hire here at Anybots (jobs@anybots.com, fyi) and all of our want adds say
to include a portfolio of cool things you have build and we receive very few.

Make it easy on the employer to see how talented you are. Since cover letters
are now always cover emails there is no excuse for not linking to a site that
explains your previous projects with pictures and links.

~~~
johnnyn
Totally agree here. I prefer startups to ask for projects instead of a resume.
For my job (YC startup), I believe my resume design caught their attention,
and my side-projects got me an interview.

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omouse
I hope the definition of kick-ass startup doesn't include working more than
40hrs a week...

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code_duck
Good article. I'm inspired by the idea of branding myself.

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sim
Reading also this one now: "My experience as the first employee of a Y
Combinator startup"

[http://nathanmarz.com/blog/my-experience-as-the-first-
employ...](http://nathanmarz.com/blog/my-experience-as-the-first-employee-of-
a-y-combinator-startu.html)

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hxr
>> Coworkers that are really smart that you can learn from?

So how do startups solve this paradox? - founders/current employees are always
looking to hire someone better than themselves, while prospective employees
are looking to work with smarter people than themselves at the same time.

