He gives 4 "hints" as to what he wants this app to do (sounds like a real-time dating app, but who knows!?). He then asks you to not only give a Total Cost estimate, but also a completion date.
Next time you go to your doctor for a routine physical, ask him/her when the surgery will be complete and how much money it will cost. Do not offer additional details (such as any plausibly surgical conditions that you might have) if your doctor asks for them.
So, I take it Hacker.com is one of those sites for the initiated where those "in-the-know" can sit around and disparage the uninitiated--where the experts can gather and imbibe that tasty brew of in-crowd mockery and self-satisfied contempt for their non-expert lessers?
Perhaps, then, jv22222, since you have made me the public target of your scorn, you'll add substance to your ridicule and teach me where went I wrong with my post seeking an app writer on craigslist (different Craig).
I should tell you, first of all, that this was not my first time placing an ad for coders on craigslist, nor will it be my first time hiring someone who answers an ad. They would tell you that I pay well for good work, that I pay on time (half up front and the remaining half immediately upon completion), and that I am flexible, responsive, and accessible. I also have at least a passing familiarity with coding (there isn't a lick of javascript on this page I wrote, for example, http://craignelsen.com/).
I thought the craigslist ad was good, but you obviously disagree. You don't say exactly what it is you find so objectionable, but, if I read between the lines, my description of the job was flawed, comprising merely "hints". Perhaps you can teach me how I could have described the job so that I met your standards without actually posting my idea on the Internet (it is not, btw, a real-time dating app).
If your beef was with the fact that my ad directs to a web page with a form to fill out, then I should tell you that, as someone who hires coders, I find the form eliminates a lot of the off-shore spam responses from companies that mass-reply to ads on craigslist. If you are not an off-shore company, I should think you would be appreciative of my approach, rather than disparaging.
Also, btw, a little public criticism of your post on grounds more in line with my field of expertise:
I didn't write anything about doctors. I just submitted the link. Each comment here is submitted by a different hacker news member.
The reason why I submitted the link is because over the past few days there's been a lot of articles on hacker news about how to work as a freelance coder. One of the routes they spoke about on those articles was to apply to craigslist jobs for freelance work.
They mention quite specifically to avoid jobs that have very few details on the job page (or the follow through page) and especially wary of ads that offer shared ownership.
Since your ad matched that criteria I thought it would be interesting to submit it to the community and get the general thoughts in it.
FYI - Hacker news is a community where thousands of coders hand out. They use this site to find and promote articles they are interested in.
You site craignelsen.com is objectionable - why are you busy loading thousands of little gifs to form a picture of yourself?
Maybe if you had included some of your previous experiences hiring craigslist coders with references, you would be received more warmly.
As it stands, your ad is crap in that it doesn't provide any useful information about the job or compensation. In addition, you're either a Director at "Buddy Clubs" or a Independent Non-Profit Organization Management Professional, whatever that means. Neither title inspires much confidence in programmers.
Since I didn't ask to be publicly identified--let alone skewered--on Hackers.com, my manner of approach is irrelevant, in my view. I won't be so rude as to call your post "crap", but why don't you give an example of the "useful information" you say is missing from my ad that justifies you calling my ad "crap".
I haven't read any other thread on this site, but I assume "HN's approach to comments" is widely ignored?
Cnelsen, the major problem with the listing is it lacks any detail about the project or how you expect to execute it. If you think a program is summed up by 4 bullets you have no understanding of what is involved, thus, you are in short 'the nightmare client'.
He gives 4 "hints" as to what he wants this app to do (sounds like a real-time dating app, but who knows!?). He then asks you to not only give a Total Cost estimate, but also a completion date.
Next time you go to your doctor for a routine physical, ask him/her when the surgery will be complete and how much money it will cost. Do not offer additional details (such as any plausibly surgical conditions that you might have) if your doctor asks for them.