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Finding jobs with startups

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Re: Finding jobs with startups

#2
A hacker friend asked me a while ago how to find a job with a startup, and it bothers me that I've never been able to give him a satisfactory answer. I wanted to respond "through friends" but that's not very helpful to someone who isn't as well-connected, which he isn't because he made the mistake of taking a mind-numbing job when he left college and losing touch with his classmates.

Startups don't often hire recruiters, and most of the "startup" job ads on the internet job boards seem to be either a) established companies claiming to be startups in order to sound trendy, or b) Ponzi schemes. So what's left?

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#3
post #2

A hacker friend asked me a while ago how to find a job with a startup, and it bothers me that I've never been able to give him a satisfactory answer. I wanted to respond "through friends" but that's not very helpful to someone who isn't as well-connected, which he isn't because he made the mistake of taking a mind-numbing job when he left college and losing touch with his classmates. Startups don't often hire recruit…

Howdy,

The good news is that startups are actively looking for good hackers. Investors are also looking too, since that's one way they can really help their companies. So he can find cool startups and email them, or find cool investors (like YC) and work from higher up in the stream.

My startup, Xobni, is very actively looking for great hackers. We are YC alumni and recently raised a series A financing from Khosla Ventures. We're still a small team, too, so all of the benefits of working for a startup are in full force here. You can email jobs foo at xobni dot com (remove foo)!

Adam

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#4
post #2

A hacker friend asked me a while ago how to find a job with a startup, and it bothers me that I've never been able to give him a satisfactory answer. I wanted to respond "through friends" but that's not very helpful to someone who isn't as well-connected, which he isn't because he made the mistake of taking a mind-numbing job when he left college and losing touch with his classmates. Startups don't often hire recruit…

Email them!

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#5
post #4
post #2

A hacker friend asked me a while ago how to find a job with a startup, and it bothers me that I've never been able to give him a satisfactory answer. I wanted to respond "through friends" but that's not very helpful to someone who isn't as well-connected, which he isn't because he made the mistake of taking a mind-numbing job when he left college and losing touch with his classmates. Startups don't often hire recruit…

Email them!

Seriously though. If you're a good hacker then other good hackers and entrepreneurs want to talk to you. Find an in. Sell yourself. Figure out a way to get a conversation. Start with startups likely to be using technologies you know. It does not need to lead immediately to a job, just get the ball rolling. Founders know other startup founders.

It definitely helps if you're genuinely interested in startups and what they're doing and look forward to talking to good hackers yourself.

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#6
post #2

A hacker friend asked me a while ago how to find a job with a startup, and it bothers me that I've never been able to give him a satisfactory answer. I wanted to respond "through friends" but that's not very helpful to someone who isn't as well-connected, which he isn't because he made the mistake of taking a mind-numbing job when he left college and losing touch with his classmates. Startups don't often hire recruit…

I'd recommend your friend to attend to as many start-up events as possible. First, many start-ups use such events to recruit. Second, he may be able to find a matching partner looking for his expertise. WorkIt.com is an excellent resource if your friend is in Bay Area.

Another idea is to tell your friend to provide contracting services for start-ups. That way, he/she can test-drive the company while making a few bucks on the side.

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#8
post #7

A whole lot of startups post on Craigslist. Searching for "startup", "funded", etc works pretty well. Quite a few totally legit early-stage startups post there. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=startup&format=rss

One post I read, and I'm sure there are others like it, are from people with some great idea (secret, of course) and they need someone to actually do it.

Those crack me up -- what are they even bringing to the table? "You do all the work, and we'll give you a small percentage."

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#9
post #7

A whole lot of startups post on Craigslist. Searching for "startup", "funded", etc works pretty well. Quite a few totally legit early-stage startups post there. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=startup&format=rss

the best way in the UK i find is just to send an email with your CV. Agree to work for free for a while (month?) as a tester, they will love that your enthusiasm and if you dont get a permanent job, at least you would have learnt somethin.

Re: Finding jobs with startups

#10
post #7

A whole lot of startups post on Craigslist. Searching for "startup", "funded", etc works pretty well. Quite a few totally legit early-stage startups post there. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=startup&format=rss

One post I read, and I'm sure there are others like it, are from people with some great idea (secret, of course) and they need someone to actually do it. Those crack me up -- what are they even bringing to the table? "You do all the work, and we'll give you a small percentage."

the one thing worse than secret ideas are the "like X but for Y" startups... eg "It's like Digg, but for Nerf Herders! We've done the market research, honest!"

(sure there are exceptions to the rule; "Google, it's like AltaVista...")

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