Who Y Combinator Companies Want • Hacker News Board

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#111

Post by throwaway456789 » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:19 PM UTC

ScottBurson wrote: post #87

throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

The first time I read your post I missed the parenthetical in the first paragraph, and was inclined to agree with you. Then I looked again and saw "(late twenties)", and had to laugh. On the one hand, you're right, you can't learn everything. On the other, to be able to realistically claim that you can pick up new languages quickly, you should already know three or four different kinds of languages. If all you know i…

I am pigeonholed.

Sure I know other languages: Shell Scripting, Perl, HTML/CSS/JS, Groovy, SQL, C#, etc, but 80 percent of the code I write is in Java. I'm at a Java shop and have golden handcuffs. It's Java or bust for me.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#112

Post by ammon » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:20 PM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #65

So... I worked with over 50 engineers prepping for their first SF/Silicon Valley tech interviews. And I worked at Groupon, interviewed at a bunch of YC companies (including one where I took a job). In my experience pretty much nobody is taking Ben Horowitz's advice from The Hard Thing About Hard Things —hire based on strength instead of a perceived lack of weakness. Instead everyone seems to be looking for candidates…

Well, they sort of are, just not explicitly. The standard process is to have 2 to 5 interviewers, each asking their own question, and pass everyone who get at least one strong yes, and no strong noes. This ends up with a random factor, but ultimately favoring people at least one real strength. The interviewer who sees this strength will fight for them. We've seen people with high skill variance (great at one thing, bad at others) pass interviews at a higher rater than people who are just OK at everything.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#113

Post by taurath » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:20 PM UTC

throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

The difference in skillset and mindset in a large organization vs a startup is pretty huge. A large organization values stability and conformity (your software must work within usually a much larger picture), whereas in a startup the organization values speed and flexibility (large business changes or new data may come in at any point). The challenge when coming in from a big company is convincing people you can "hack" it to get things done quickly while still bringing the monolith of process and organizational knowledge from the big company.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#114

Post by random_coder » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:21 PM UTC

jenshoop wrote: post #31

This was a great point: "There’s more demand for product-focused programmers than there is for programmers focused on hard technical problems." A very talented programmer from Dropbox once told me that if I wanted to attract top engineering talent, I needed to be able to show the engineer "a problem that no one else has solved yet." This totally changed the way I wrote my job descriptions and conducted interviews. Le…

Care to explain a little? Did your friend mean that talented engineers like working on novel problems and companies facing hard problems are thus more attractive?

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#115

Post by qntty » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:21 PM UTC

ScottBurson wrote: post #87

throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

The first time I read your post I missed the parenthetical in the first paragraph, and was inclined to agree with you. Then I looked again and saw "(late twenties)", and had to laugh. On the one hand, you're right, you can't learn everything. On the other, to be able to realistically claim that you can pick up new languages quickly, you should already know three or four different kinds of languages. If all you know i…

>I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties)

I took this to mean that the average startup employee is in their late twenties, and he is somewhat older than that

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#116

Post by throwaway456789 » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:22 PM UTC

sgarman wrote: post #84

throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

I think a lot of companies want to hire people who also have programming as a hobby. It seems if this was true it would be very unlikely that someone would be a seasoned great programmer who only ever programmed in one language. I'd be curious why this candidate never wanted to try other styles/approaches.

I never understood why that was a prerequisite. I program for 60 hours a week. So what if I don't want to do it on the weekends too.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#117

Post by tedks » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:22 PM UTC

s_kilk wrote: post #46

ryandrake wrote: post #8

> "We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost." I suspect in addition to not having the "stomach" for an unlimited number of interviews, they don't have the vacation days to burn for them. Let's say you are working already and have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard). With these ridiculous all-day…

>> have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard) Wait, what? Is it really this bad in the States?

And yet the USA is the richest country in the world, with a culture steadily dominating and extinguishing all other cultures. There is a McDonald's in Red Square right now.

You don't make an omelet without enslaving some chickens their entire lives, keeping them in barely one cubic foot of space from birth to death so they can push out eggs at maximal productivity, killing them as soon as they're no longer at peak performance, and of course, breaking the eggs.

In other words, you get what you pay for.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#118

Post by ScottBurson » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:23 PM UTC

qntty wrote: post #115

ScottBurson wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first time I read your post I missed the parenthetical in the first paragraph, and was inclined to agree with you. Then I looked again and saw "(late twenties)", and had to laugh. On the one hand, you're right, you can't learn everything. On the other, to be able to realistically claim that you can pick up new languages quickly, you should already know three or four different kinds of languages. If all you know i…

>I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties) I took this to mean that the average startup employee is in their late twenties, and he is somewhat older than that

Oh, you must be right. Silly of me.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#119

Post by kafkaesq » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:23 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #8

> "We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost." I suspect in addition to not having the "stomach" for an unlimited number of interviews, they don't have the vacation days to burn for them. Let's say you are working already and have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard). With these ridiculous all-day…

"We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost."

Yet it's amazing how many companies treat candidates' time as basically worthless, and infinitely replenishable.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#120

Post by eropple » Tue, Dec 08, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #36

draw_down wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good example of why working at a place with such restrictive PTO is a trap. But, around here we like to have philosophical discussions about how unlimited vacation time is the real trap. I dunno, guys. It seems to work pretty well for me.

I ask for five weeks/year, even if it means I have to forgo some pay. I have yet to be told no. I don't think you've ever experienced the passive aggressiveness that comes with using "unlimited" vacation time.

Yup. Before I went into independent consulting, five weeks was a non-negotiable point for me. And I largely went into consulting specifically to take more time off. Life's too short.