
Ask HN: Team for Hire? - wilwade
Is there anyone who wants to hire a whole team?<p>Due to a corporate decision, the OpenTable branch office in Chattanooga, TN is being closed down. Many of us are unwilling or unable due to family and homes to relocate to San Fransisco. (No, not everyone wants to live in SF, and we have faster internet here.) So we&#x27;re looking for an &quot;acquihire&quot; without a company name.<p>About 8 Backend and 4 frontend engineers as well as a few product &amp; design guys—all ready to hit the ground running. Most of us are startup veterans.<p>Interested parties can email me: wil@wilwade.com
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alberth
MailChimp?

Just the other day HN had an article on them. They are in Atlanta, so not far
from you.

They are looking to hire 150 new employees within the next year.

>> "[MailChimp] now employs about 550 people, and by next year it will be
close to 700"

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12642824](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12642824)

Since OpenTable sends email confirmation for restaurant reservations, your
team might bring interesting insight for MailChimp since it's possible you
might be a current customer of them.

------
eganist
[http://nooga.com/174179/opentable-to-leave-
chattanooga/](http://nooga.com/174179/opentable-to-leave-chattanooga/)

Interesting. I know there are _Very_ good reasons for not relocating to either
Los Angeles or San Francisco, but what were the specific reasons (aside from
family/homes, if any) you and the team had for opting not to relocate?

Further to this:

2) Were team members offered raises as part of a relocation package?

3) Were team members offered the opportunity to work 100% remotely?

4) Has OpenTable approved this message?

5) Regardless of #4, are there certain conditions others would need to be
aware of such as non-competes? I know NCAs are fairly (if not entirely)
powerless in California, but I'm not aware of the laws impacting them in
Tennessee.

Edit: per user @rfc's jogging of my brain, Stripe has a program for hiring
full development teams. @wilwade, this might be worth applying to. I know I
posted it in another comment, but it's worthy of top-order visibility:
[https://stripe.com/blog/bring-your-own-team](https://stripe.com/blog/bring-
your-own-team)

~~~
stray
I can't speak for OP, but Chattanooga is a pretty awesome place to be. I left
Chattanooga for Boulder and it was the second stupidest thing I've ever done.

Ok, maybe third.

~~~
austinlyons
Curious: From your perspective, what are some reasons you prefer Chattanooga
over Boulder?

~~~
gregkerzhner
The appeal of both places is that they have a wealth of outdoor activities
really close by (especially rock climbing). This is subjective, but I think
the rock climbing is better in Chattanooga. Also, people are friendlier and
more down to earth in Chatty, its that southern hospitality after all. The
Boulderites have a reputation for being snobs and yuppies. Also the cost of
living is way cheaper in Chattanooga.

~~~
AznHisoka
What's the difference between a yuppie, a hipster and a millenial? I get these
buzzwords confused.

~~~
caleblloyd
a yuppie has an expensive car and house, a hipster has a bike and roommates,
and a millennial borrows their parent's car and lives at home

~~~
Grishnakh
Age too: yuppies are generally older ("yuppie" was a popular term in the 80s),
hipsters are probably in their early 30s, and millennials are in their
20s-early 30s.

------
sailfast
If you can't find a group that will hire you as a team, perhaps you should
start a consulting / product firm. There's overhead / non-dev work to setting
up shop and starting a business development pipeline to get revenue in the
door of course, but if you want to stick together, build great things, and
keep your culture that's a solid option if others fail.

~~~
mrfusion
How do you start a business development pipeline?

~~~
sailfast
Well - this is a broad question and sales / pipeline building is an art all
its own that is industry specific BUT assuming you want to build products for
people for hire you might:

\- Identify a number of potential network contacts working for companies that
may need the help, reach out to them, tell them about what you're doing and
ask to meet for coffee to talk about how you can help them

\- Work your network to see who is looking for the kind of service you want to
provide - find one client and start small and build on that work

\- Find companies you'd like to support and contact the "right" person (maybe
the CTO? Maybe CIO? Maybe head of purchasing?") and see if they need what you
want to provide or at least give them something to think about for when they
need it

\- Look for companies putting RFPs on the street for software work (public
sites or otherwise though this win rate is probably a lot lower)

\- Ask larger businesses in the area and/or consulting companies from more
established industries if they are interested in subcontracting for software
development

\- Ask your current employer if there's any interest in continuing the
relationship as contractors for specific applications to give you some runway.

This is by no means a complete list but it's what I would do in order to get
it started. Then you'll want to keep doing it all the time and if you get big
enough hire a sales / BD person.

~~~
mrfusion
How do you contact a cto or cio?

~~~
sailfast
Call them? E-mail them? Find them on Twitter and reply to an issue they're
having? Dig in and do research about their market and the problems you often
encounter in that market, say you can help, and ask for fifteen minutes or
coffee depending on the culture of the company.

------
seagreen
Sorry to hear that OpenTable's moving out of Chattanooga.

I was in Chattanooga from 2013-15 and have nothing but good things to say
about their team. Most notably they ran a functional programming meetup that
covered pretty advanced topics but was still inclusive to beginners. I'll
remember the encouragement I got there for a long time.

If anybody who cares about the Chattanooga tech scene reads this: do your best
to keep the OpenTable team intact. A lot of the programming community's
enthusiasm is either directly coming from or being encouraged by them.

DISCLAIMER?: I was in Chattanooga a couple weeks ago and they gave me a bunch
of useful, free advice on my current project. This isn't really a disclaimer
though because IMO it just reflects even better on them.

------
archon
As another Chattanooga dev, I hate to be a wet blanket, but I would be very
surprised if any startup here has a need for or ability to employ a team that
large. Especially since the larger employers here (TVA, Blue Cross, Unum,
Covenant Transport, USX) are all .Net shops.

I'm not saying it's impossible, just that I believe you would be better served
to either find individual jobs here, or be willing to relocate. (And just to
be clear, I'm not pushing the relocation thing. I love this city and wouldn't
want to move either.)

~~~
micah_chatt
I know of one company
[https://twitter.com/kenmcelrath/status/784418953141493760](https://twitter.com/kenmcelrath/status/784418953141493760)

------
33a
Have you all considered starting a worker owned cooperative?

~~~
mrfusion
How would it work?

~~~
BatFastard
Love the concept.

[http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/no-
bosse...](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/no-bosses-
worker-owned-cooperatives/397007/)

------
chattamatt
Please know that this post does not represent the views of all of us at this
office. While I appreciate the effort to place us as a team, I feel this
effort in particular does not represent the professional nature in which we
conduct ourselves, and was posted without the permission of all of us on the
team.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I really, really want to second what eldavido said.

* This is not unprofessional

* It's fair if you'd prefer to opt out

* I don't believe this reflects poorly on OP at all.

Your employer is closing an office. Your team supposedly has a positive
dynamic, which has value, value your employer is passing on. Why would it be
unprofessional or unethical to advertise this when said employer is cutting
the team loose?

I do not mean this to call out chattamatt; this comment is for those who come
next who think about doing the same thing: no one is looking out for your best
interests besides you. There is nothing wrong with putting an offer such as
this out (except for those who may not want to participate, OP should've
checked with his team for those who might have not wanted to be included)

EDIT: @chattamatt (HN commenting throttle has kicked in, I can't reply to your
comment below)

I'm very sorry your team has to go through this. I hope this thread provides
the necessary resources for everyone to make a successful leap to a new
employment opportunity, regardless if its the entire team or individuals on
their own. I can also appreciate how you feel about being represented without
your consent, and my comment notes that isn't acceptable.

~~~
chattamatt
I completely agree that there's nothing wrong with shopping the team, and that
it's not unprofessional. However, answering questions and posting this without
the consent of the headcount represented, isn't great either.

There are terms to our severance packages... While this post in itself doesn't
violate any of those terms, it's a difficult time, and many of us, including
myself, are still gathering our thoughts and planning next steps. I'm simply
sensitive about having anyone represent _us_ without first having our
permission.

------
timdorr
Are you willing to move down to Atlanta? If so, I know of some potential
options here in town. Glad to make the intro.

~~~
wilwade
Thanks. Currently we are trying to stay in Chattanooga.

------
rfc
I spent a few minutes searching but couldn't find the link. IIRC, Airbnb was
testing out hiring full teams. It was a pilot program and I'm not sure if it's
still going on. If you know anyone there, I'd reach out to ask.

~~~
eganist
Are you sure it wasn't Stripe?

[https://stripe.com/blog/bring-your-own-team](https://stripe.com/blog/bring-
your-own-team)

@wilwade, check the link. This might be your best shot aside from somebody
reading this thread and offering directly.

~~~
rullopat
It says "Any group of 2 to 5 people can apply as a team to Stripe". Maybe if
they split...

------
tbrooks
Chattanooga is a beautiful town. I almost moved their in January. The city has
a lot to offer and it __could __be one of the next great tech hubs.

I decided not to move because I didn't think the local economy offers a lot of
choice for software engineering jobs. When I visited people remarked, we've
got VaynerMedia, we've got OpenTable, we've got CarbonFive, etc. etc.

This news sucks because I really want to see Chattanooga grow into a techhub,
but it also confirms the suspicions I originally had. :/

------
pknerd
a bit OT. Since you are already a team, utilize spare time to make some
_awesome_ product. Someone will eventually hire you :)

~~~
angryasian
I know people always say this but the job search and preparation is taxing.
Going through everyday for listings then all the prep work involving reading
about cs stuff, and practicing white board questions.

~~~
pknerd
_Comfort zone_

------
micah_chatt
I know of a tech startup in Chattanooga with the budget/funding that is
willing to take on this team (cough: current employer)
[https://twitter.com/kenmcelrath/status/784418953141493760](https://twitter.com/kenmcelrath/status/784418953141493760)

~~~
xeromal
Awesome!

------
pbreit
Eventbrite is hiring engineers in Nashville.

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rubyfan
When you say "backend," specifically what do you mean?

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stray
Have you talked to the folks over at Lamp Post Group?

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phaitour
have you tried elevator? goelevator.com/

~~~
wilwade
Their ssl cert is showing up bad. I sent an email, but I'm not sure they are
still a thing.

------
Klarbichu
You'll find success faster if you split up and join the talent pool sooner
rather than later.

If you're trying to get hired as a team, that sounds new, so employers might
not have heard of such a thing.

It's the first time I've heard of something so preposterous. Maybe if it was a
progressive state like Colorado, I could understand, but Tennessee? I can't
stand the hot, humid summers myself. Then you have chiggers and scorpions to
worry about. ;)

~~~
fecak
Getting hired as an individual is obviously easier than getting hired as a
team, but they may have a bit more leverage as a team because it can solve
many problems for a company very quickly and they have some demonstrated
experience working together. The risk of a team dynamic and "fit" is reduced
dramatically.

Getting hired as a team is hardly new. Acquihire is incredibly common, and
this is essentially the same thing.

