Ask HN: Am I hireable for a tech company if I don't like complex stuff?

I think your advice is a little bit naive and maybe even dangerous, because it ignores the reality that many programmers have to deal with, even those working in startups.

"3) Never be a maintenance programmer. Always be the original coder."

I think this is pretty unrealistic. Maintaining legacy code is definitely not as fun nor as exciting as working on "green fields" projects, but it's often necessary and can definitely help you mature as a programmer.

Simply gaining exposure to good and bad code is very beneficial. It means that the brand new code you are going to go out and write will not be as terrible and maybe will be good enough to make the next person's life not so miserable. Plus, even if you vow to never work on anyone else's code, is that really even possible? If you create a new system today, and have to maintain your own code in 6 months or a year, are you really the same person? It's common to look at your code from a year ago and think "what was I thinking when I wrote this crap?"

"You can always find a better way to do it than they did, at least in my experience."

This is a common reaction that programmers have when reviewing old code (myself included!), but it's not always true. You may think you can find a better way, but you had better be damned sure you're right. You need to check your understanding and make sure you really comprehend all the components of the existing code and are not about to replace something that is working and ugly with something that is beautiful but will fails in 6 months time because you didn't anticipate some edge case that the original programmer did.

There are times when a company needs a "rock star," and there are times when that's the last person you want to hire. It takes all kinds, and there is work that is enjoyable for all kinds. If you aren't inclined to stuff that is currently considered cool, you won't get the cool jobs. If what you want is a rewarding and successful career, look for jobs that suit you, that you enjoy, that you are good at. Then build on that. There are a lot of people who have made very solid and successful careers out of stuff that some think is boring.

which category does the candidates Google shoots for fall on? They're certainly not looking for "rock stars" as they work with "not cool" tech (eg. Java) and "get shit done" isn't really tested on their interviews (they test whether you have a good memory or great understanding of specific algorithms not always used by the "get shit done" jobs/people)

What you are saying about someone else's code is true, but being able to read code and understand what is going on is a skill that is worth its weight in gold.

Being the one who can dive into someone else's code and sort out the problems or make the needed changes can earn you tons of respect - especially if everyone else saw the code and ran for the hills. (and money in some cases)