A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#271

Post by martyvis » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 3:41 AM UTC

RomanBob wrote: post #267

_wldu wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that the CEO was open minded (he took a phone call from a janitor... and actually listened to him and then gave him a chance). He saw past this mans lack of education and experience and focused on his dedication and enthusiasm. There's value in everyone, everywhere (even the lowest employees). We need leaders who can put ego aside and see that. IMO, that was the point of the story. The subsequent success…

>even the lowest employees Why is the janitor considered "the lowest employee" by you?

In most companies the level is demonstrated by the investment in the employee's career. I would imagine janitors :-

* Get the lowest salary

* Are often outsourced with lowest priced bidder winning

* Don't get on programs like bonuses, training, career advancement

* Aren't used in company marketing (Imagine "We have the best cleaned offices")

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#272

Post by droithomme » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 3:46 AM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #259

droithomme wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 110° temperatures 110° temperatures has a tendency to kill off whatever crop you are growing. It's not a common growing condition and most areas with these temperatures regularly are not considered suitable regions for efficient agricultural production.

Phoenix gets to 110 every year and you can definitely grow oranges and cotton there, at least.

That's cool. I didn't realize Phoenix is a significant market supplier of agricultural products.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#273

Post by Tiktaalik » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:09 AM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #28

Tiktaalik wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Games industry is probably one of the few jobs where you can work your way up to the top role from the bottom. It's still not uncommon at all for executive producers that manage entire projects to have started as game testers that would have been paid a low hourly wage.

Games companies hire their own cleaners and mailroom and they make it through to the C-suite? Your comment takes a tone suggesting disagreement but the content agrees completely with the parent. If you started in a technical role then you manage to reach a top technical role then you haven't done the "start in the mailroom" progression at all. Are games testers even taken on straight from school at age 16 or do they…

Games testing isn't a technical role. Anyone can do it. It's a minimum wage job with no real qualifications.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#274

Post by slg » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:15 AM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #261

slg wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pipeline problem is a concern long term, but I don’t think it is the primary problem at the moment for a couple reasons. First, it assumes that the pool of diverse candidates has already been exhausted. Anecdotally I have not seen evidence of that. If it was the problem you claim, we would expect female engineers to make much higher salaries than their male counterparts. There is no evidence that is happening. Th…

> If it was the problem you claim, we would expect female engineers to make much higher salaries than their male counterparts. You lost me here. Why is this the case?

Simple supply and demand. If the demand for women exceeded the supply of women, then the naturally result is a bidding war for the available women that would drive up their salary. The fact that women in this industry don't make more than men disproves the idea that companies are currently prioritizing the hiring of women to an extent that the talent pool of available women cannot meet.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#275

Post by School-Cotton » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:18 AM UTC

slg wrote: post #274

School-Cotton wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If it was the problem you claim, we would expect female engineers to make much higher salaries than their male counterparts. You lost me here. Why is this the case?

Simple supply and demand. If the demand for women exceeded the supply of women, then the naturally result is a bidding war for the available women that would drive up their salary. The fact that women in this industry don't make more than men disproves the idea that companies are currently prioritizing the hiring of women to an extent that the talent pool of available women cannot meet.

Why do you expect the demand for women to be different from the demand for similarly qualified men?

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#276

Post by whenchamenia » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:24 AM UTC

closetohome wrote: post #159

ravenstine wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has to be taken seriously by management, however. I've worked at a few places where diversity was king but upper management continued to make the decisions of aging middle-class white folks. Not that I have a problem with that in and of itself, but it was funny how they would hire lots of women and minorities, say that they wanted to target undeserved demographics, but then never actually attempt to do it. Diversi…

The unfortunate result of viewing diversity as a performance metric to hit, rather than a real and decisive advantage.

And percicely the metric being pushed for by those who should know better. You can't quantify viewpoint diversity in a spreadsheet or quarterly report.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#277

Post by whenchamenia » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:30 AM UTC

DrJokepu wrote: post #109

wil421 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What should you say if you don’t know the person is Mexican? Hispanic? I’ve had non- correct me when I said Mexican but I knew the person was actually Mexican. What gives?

Just don’t say anything. If you don’t know it, don’t assume.

Thats an impossible way to live and get things done. Better to express yourself earnastly, and accept critisim. There is always an opprotunity to learn.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#278

Post by whenchamenia » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:38 AM UTC

debatem1 wrote: post #106

That's an incredible story and props to the guy, but let's not tapdance around the fact that this is incredible specifically because social mobility on this scale is extremely rare. It took both exceptional determination and unbelievable luck to make this happen. How many others have the doggedness and skill, but not the luck? How many of them are still mopping today?

Just because there is 'mobility', does not entice all to seek a different 'status'. Many are content to be a happy human, and think those terms are silly at best.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#279

Post by slg » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:38 AM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #275

slg wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple supply and demand. If the demand for women exceeded the supply of women, then the naturally result is a bidding war for the available women that would drive up their salary. The fact that women in this industry don't make more than men disproves the idea that companies are currently prioritizing the hiring of women to an extent that the talent pool of available women cannot meet.

Why do you expect the demand for women to be different from the demand for similarly qualified men?

I don't, that was the idea I was arguing against. The comment I replied to put forward the hypothetical regarding every company wanting to hire 50% women in a world with only 20% of CS graduates being women. That would result in a world in which the demand for women is equal to men but the supply of women is much smaller than the supply of men. The natural result of that is that women have a higher salary than men. We know this isn't true so this is a modus tollens argument that disproves the original hypothetical.

Re: A janitor at Frito-Lay invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (2017)

#280

Post by jackvalentine » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 4:50 AM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #197

z3t4 wrote: post #171

> “How much market share do you think you can get?” "I opened my arms and I said, ‘This much market share!’" Brilliant answer for a stupid question that was probably meant to put him down. > Frito-Lay began testing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in small Latino markets in East Los Angeles. If it performed well, the company would move forward with the product; if it didn’t, they’d scratch it So Montañez assembled a small team of…

This was the same CEO who took a call from a janitor. It wasn't a put down. This was an interview, and the question was open ended on purpose to see how he responded.

The CEO wasn't the one asking the question.