My views on MBAs notwithstanding, anyone with a Stanford degree should know the difference between "haven" and "having."
Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
11–20 of 46 posts
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#12#1 makes no sense. Facebook/Google/Zynga/etc pay hires more because they can no longer offer hires significant equity, like an early startup can. A startup is never going to beat an established company on pay, it's going to beat it on equity. If an offer of significant equity doesn't convince a potential developer to come onboard, perhaps the problem is that the company isn't promising enough.
It sounds like this MBA is angry at the most basic law of economics: when the supply is less than demand, prices go up.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#13if i were looking, i'd not apply at his company after reading this as he just doesn't seem to be a good problem solver. A successful leader would post a solution (or at least reasonably constructive ways to approach the problem) instead of whining at the problem.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#14I honestly can't comprehend someone writing #1 as anything but a joke. You're seriously upset that Google can afford to hire good talent and doesn't treat its employees like shit? Also, "Shame on you for not squeezing salaries to cut your costs" is not a way to attract good developers.
I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt here, because sarcasm is notoriously hard to transmit through text. I think he's being tongue-in-cheek while complaining that hiring is difficult because Google/Facebook/etc have collectively raised the bar about what sort of compensation is expected to levels that are hard for him to match.
they supposedly teach that at business school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand
Have you ever heard a physicist whining at e=mc2?
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#15Can't wait to see this revolutionary implementation of social game mechanics that will improve capitalism for the benefit of all.
This person managed to get into the most selective and sought after MBA program on the planet so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt but, jesus...wtf?
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#16Wow, I read this. Tried to forget it. But it annoyed me so much I had to respond...just so I can get it out of my mind and get back to work.
I tried to be as constructive as possible in my criticism...but reader beware...
-----The Constructive Part------
Let me help you find your code monkeys.
First, stop spending any time at meetups and hackathons. That would only make sense if you were a technical person looking to recruit some talent. You're on the wrong side of the fence to get anywhere at those types of meetings.
Second, re-evaluate your value proposition to any potential developer you are thinking about recruiting. I bet you are either being incredibly cheap on the compensation package you are offering (a dollar saved is a dollar earned, right?!). Or your core business model is lame/flawed/weak/not interesting to whomever the developer is you're pitching it to.
Third, get creative. Dress up in a monkey costume and stand outside the Facebook/Zynga/Twitter/LinkedIn office with a sign that says something that will get a developer's attention. Go big. Go over the top. Do NOT underestimate the power of creativity. If you approached me with a boilerplate MBA pitch, I would immediately discount everything you say because I'd think you are full of shit. Now, if you were willing to humiliate yourself, make me laugh and look like you were having fun doing it, then you'd have my attention. Re-read the Obama-O's AirBNB story. Get creative.
Fourth, get busy building the product yourself. You don't need to be a developer to build out business requirements. If you came to me with flushed out wireframes and business requirements and very clear technical roadmap, I'd be WAY more interested than if you came to me with a killer 80 page Stanford business plan. I don't even know who Steve Blank is...neither does any other developer. Realize that anything non-technical (i.e. marketing plans, financial projections, org charts, etc) is all irrelevant to recruiting a developer. All of those items are vitally important for a successful startup, but they are all fluff. They don't (in the eyes of a developer) require much time, effort or thought. If that's all you brought to the table, you'd be seen as a Winklevi (i.e. I came up with this brilliant idea...here's 10 sentences on the product...now go build it code monkey...and here's 0.5% of the company).
-----The Criticism Part-----
"Last week we had a big strategy and planning session, and I had to decide to hold off on signing up any new customers or channel partners because we don’t have the bandwidth in product development to deliver let alone improve the platform."
So let me get this straight: you are so successful selling a real solution to a real customer problem that customers are willing and able to pay good money for (i.e. the hardest single thing to do in a startup) that you have to pull back your sales efforts, but you can't figure out how to recruit technical talent?!
I'm calling bullshit on that one.
More likely, it's a group of MBAs sitting around in their argyle sweater vests thinking they are just killing it in sales, yet they are only able to sell a vague idea of a fictitious software product that they haven't even written business requirements for yet. The rubber isn't even close to meeting the road yet.
Why are you spending one second on a 'big strategy and planning session'?! Seriously. You're biggest problem is hiring developers. And you're a software product company. Huh?? Spend every waking hour finding technical talent. Stop the circle-jerk planning sessions already! Go buy a bunch of bananas and find your code monkeys!
Maybe I got a bit hot-headed, but I settled down and tried to offer some specific advice. Hope you were able to get something from it.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#17#1 makes no sense. Facebook/Google/Zynga/etc pay hires more because they can no longer offer hires significant equity, like an early startup can. A startup is never going to beat an established company on pay, it's going to beat it on equity. If an offer of significant equity doesn't convince a potential developer to come onboard, perhaps the problem is that the company isn't promising enough.
It sounds like this MBA is angry at the most basic law of economics: when the supply is less than demand, prices go up.
Seems more like he just didn't realize how much demand there was, and how little supply.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#18My views on MBAs notwithstanding, anyone with a Stanford degree should know the difference between "haven" and "having."
It should also be je ne sais quoi not je ne sais pas. Actually that entire phrase should be deleted as it is unnecessary.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#19Wow, I read this. Tried to forget it. But it annoyed me so much I had to respond...just so I can get it out of my mind and get back to work. I tried to be as constructive as possible in my criticism...but reader beware... -----The Constructive Part------ Let me help you find your code monkeys. First, stop spending any time at meetups and hackathons. That would only make sense if you were a technical person looking to…
I can't agree with trying to recruit people out of other companies. Instead, go for the technical talent that has been missed by other companies because they their array of technical tests and questionairres and laundry lists of requirements have filtered out good people.
Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA
#20Wow, I read this. Tried to forget it. But it annoyed me so much I had to respond...just so I can get it out of my mind and get back to work. I tried to be as constructive as possible in my criticism...but reader beware... -----The Constructive Part------ Let me help you find your code monkeys. First, stop spending any time at meetups and hackathons. That would only make sense if you were a technical person looking to…
I can't agree with trying to recruit people out of other companies. Instead, go for the technical talent that has been missed by other companies because they their array of technical tests and questionairres and laundry lists of requirements have filtered out good people.
Any developer that can't get a job in this market isn't a developer you want to recruit.
The only place for good talent is other companies.
How are you finding technical talent without recruiting people out of other companies?