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I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

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Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#281
post #146
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It turns out --- I'm speaking for at least Erin and I, but I suspect to an extent Patrick too --- we don't have the stomach for the contingency recruiting model. Referring someone for an interview and watching them get turned down was, for me at least, about 80% of the psychic cost of applying myself and getting turned down. Fuck that. It's a job that is possible to do and possible to do well and my life is too short…

Thomas, were many starfighters you referred not getting offers? I love the idea of a (properly scoped) project/challenge in the hiring process and find myself profoundly worried when no code gets discussed in tech interviews. I also really enjoyed stockfighter challenges. Between those six and my university's copy of Harris' Trading and Exchanges, I learned quite a bit. I bailed out on the AVR challenges though. From…

> Between those six and my university's copy of Harris' Trading and Exchanges, I learned quite a bit. I bailed out on the AVR challenges though.

I really enjoyed the Stockfighter levels too, and reading The Big Short / Flash Boys / Moneyball in preparation. The levels had the right level of difficulty & I kept feeling I levelled up (especially when optimizing levels, I'm still proud of my Level 5 score). I didn't enjoy the AVR levels the same way & bailed quickly on those.

I got spooked after someone posted on HN that their Starfighter referral had only bypassed the CV screen of the job interview, not programming or whiteboard challenges. That made me question the time I'd spent on Starfighter - I kept a time log in Harvest along the way, and it's about the same amount of time I'd spend on developing a new product to sell online.

I still enjoyed playing Stockfighter though, and it helped me sharpen my Golang skills.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#282

The overwhelming majority of jobs in the technology industry do not go to people who cold apply via jobs pages. This is important for you to know and operationalize. A little off topic, but why is this? I don't doubt what he is saying but why is it not good enough to apply for a job via standard channels and not have to be in "the boys club" ?

[deleted]

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#283

The overwhelming majority of jobs in the technology industry do not go to people who cold apply via jobs pages. This is important for you to know and operationalize. A little off topic, but why is this? I don't doubt what he is saying but why is it not good enough to apply for a job via standard channels and not have to be in "the boys club" ?

There are some very different sets of beliefs, practices, and values floating around any craft among people who have the same title. I'll call these "tribes." Tribes are often associated with buzzwords, like "agile." At the highest level of abstraction, practitioners in different tribes do the same job, but the way other tribes do things might be unrecognizable and/or horrifying from your perspective. You want to hir…

Yeah this kind of validates my experiences lately.

I recently moved to Europe form Australia, I was a successful tribesman but voluntarily left my tribe because I liked the idea of relocation/traveling.

I was awarded an decent paying job in Netherlands but left soon after due to toxic culture which I wanted to protect myself from. I received other offers but non paid well so I tried to find a remote position. I had no options but "cold applications", which means I was heading for dire straights.

Essentially I went from a somebody to a nobody. I worked in a very successful team as a SRE/Production Engineer in Sydney to nothing, from precious metal to polluted soil.

The "cold apply" method has failed me for months, countless coding challenges and technical tasks (which I successfully completed) have left me without a job. Oh, I've done several dances and jumped many hoops without any fruits of my labour.

I fell into bad depression. I've had to work very hard to get out of the depression. Coming out of it I can see I need to change my approach and on the bright side it's been an important period of self discovery and learning.

I've now admitted defeat and will head back to Australia, start everything again and take little for granted. I'm blessed I have the option of retreat.

Thanks for the response.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#284

For what it's worth, I was never excited by starfighter because of its trading/markets premise - simple as that. It just doesn't float my boat. The entire proposition sounded far too much like real work. Game? Surely not.

Each level in the game gave you clear directions, an entertaining backstory, and taught you the concepts necessary to think about the problem.

All three things turn what would be a boring, real-world project into a game, where only the pleasant part is left for you to do. At least for the kind of people they were looking for.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#285
post #7

Are there any plans in Atlas to support Ireland?

We only support incorporating in Delaware at the moment, but are hoping to add other locations in the future!

It would be great if you supported the Netherlands. They have an excellent network of double-tax treaties in place.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Austria, you don't need any capital at all, to start a EPU (One-Person-Company) which is really convenient.

> In Austria, you don't need any capital at all, to start a EPU (One-Person-Company) which is really convenient. You can do that in any country. Austria sucks donkeyballs for staring an actual company however. You need 35.000 in capital and you need to involve a notary. The additional cost for actually getting the company in place is a few thousand euro, you need to listen to the notary read down the contract you mad…

It seems incredible that you need such a lot of money. What is the justification given by politicians or those who support such a system?

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#287
post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's come down since you've tried, its £12 now.

Getting a business bank account is also trivial and you can do it over the phone. Pretty awesome.

Really? 2.5 years ago still involved going to a bank, signing in blood, and several hours. Most complicated past of the process, would be good to hear it had changed

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#288

I really like Patrick's work, and I have learnt a lot from it. I wish him the best for his employment at Stripe. But I am going to ask all of you to tread carefully when taking advice from well-intentioned experts. Over a period of 9 or so years, Patrick went from expressing opinions about a) why desktop software is still viable b) why web based is a better option than desktop because desktop causes too many pains c)…

> But I am going to ask all of you to tread carefully when taking advice from well-intentioned experts.

Info-marketer. I was previously a member of a paid marketing forum at the same time as him.

He got a ton of people hook, line, and sinker. What a bunch of suckers.

With HN being transitioned into a feminist e-zine (by YC), I have concerns about this place.

I do actually care. Good esoteric information is hard to come by. HN surfaces said esoterica (currently!).

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#289

Slightly unfashionable to say this here, but this problem isn’t necessarily something the private sector should be routing around but one that the public sector should be fixing from within. At GDS (GOV.UK etc) we’re working on a programme called GaaP: Government as a Platform. This aims to provide components to radically simplify the difficulty of building services focused on user needs for the rest of government. T…

I'd tend to agree. But the private sector has show an unreasonable effectiveness at improving lots of industries.

Believe me, I don't sleep well at night, knowing you've got to motivate people to generate huge profit, so they can create great companies like Stripe. But it appears to be an ongoing trend.

Even the recents efforts made by GDS or USDS will be overshadowed by new, hip, fintech (and govtech?) startups.

Re: I’m Joining Stripe to Work on Atlas

#290

Slightly unfashionable to say this here, but this problem isn’t necessarily something the private sector should be routing around but one that the public sector should be fixing from within. At GDS (GOV.UK etc) we’re working on a programme called GaaP: Government as a Platform. This aims to provide components to radically simplify the difficulty of building services focused on user needs for the rest of government. T…

I'd tend to agree. But the private sector has show an unreasonable effectiveness at improving lots of industries.

Believe me, I don't sleep well at night, knowing you've got to motivate people to generate huge profit, so they can create great companies like Stripe. But it appears to be an ongoing trend.

Even the recents efforts made by GDS or USDS will be overshadowed by new, hip, fintech (and govtech?) startups.

These agencies capture very well the current state of open-digital-api-ux trends in the industry, but I'd be surprised to see them create the next set of trends (whether it's AI, bots or biotech pigeons :p).

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