Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA • Hacker News Board

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#21

Post by clownz0r » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:17 AM UTC

lmkg wrote: post #10

clownz0r wrote: post #7

I 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.

But do developers really think that the bar has been raised because of that? None of the developers I know expect Google-like compensation from their employers. Sure, it will be harder to get the best talent because he'd have to compete with Google, but there are plenty of developers for whom that isn't the case.

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#22

Post by clownz0r » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:22 AM UTC

thinkcomp wrote: post #11

My views on MBAs notwithstanding, anyone with a Stanford degree should know the difference between "haven" and "having."

The first "haven" tripped me up until I read the rest of the sentence and realized that he meant "having". How do you get that wrong 3 times in a row?

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#23

Post by andrewstuart » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:26 AM UTC

trussi wrote: post #20

andrewstuart wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

You misunderstand me - I don't mean that you should be recruiting people who do not work at a company. I mean that standing out the front door of another company (physically or virtually) and trying to poach them is not very effective. You are far better off recruiting from people who are actively looking for a job, and who are applying for jobs through job boards and other mechanisms of applying for work.

Plenty of very talented, passionate and enthusiastic people are being passed over because they did not know fact X or fact Y, or because some employers are mistakenly searching for previous direct experience with a specific technology when really it makes more sense to be looking for smart, enthusiastic, bright people who know how to learn stuff. I will assume you are a software developer - did you ever need to learn anything new? Was there ever a time when you did not know everything that you currently know? The answer is of course, yes. What then propelled you to your current position of knowledge and experience? Probably your passion and energy and curiosity and willingness to learn. These are the most important traits and employers should be willing to trade experience with specific things for these traits.

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#24

Post by shareme » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:31 AM UTC

Wrong requirements..

He is searching for a co-founder but not giving the benefits of a co-founder..that is a sale he will never make..ever.

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#25

Post by edj » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:33 AM UTC

1. Google and the other big boyz talk a big game about doing no evil, but giving out huge salaries and signing bonuses to attract the best talent is just plain evil from my vantage-point.

This is parody, right?

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#26

Post by shriphani » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:35 AM UTC

pssamant wrote: post #2

How are MBA programs so behind? I mean, talented/successful entrepreneurs flock to the teaching positions at top MBA programs. Why do they remain to set in their ways? A question for you all you disgruntled MBA's -- how do you make MBA programs more agile/nimble?

Let us inspect the definition of an MBA - nope. nothing there.

How about the sales pitch B-Schools make - nope they don't. $$ is the only promise.

Basically what we see here is that institutions are issuing certificates saying that they are capable of producing an individual who fits into any leadership role in any org without any domain specific knowledge and can keep everything going smoothly.

After that analysis, the usual response I get from people is that MBAs are great at networking and blah blah. So navigating the communication hierarchy of an org takes 2 years of training ? And this is enough to produce "Da Boss" for an org ?

When you sign up for a 4 yr CS degree - you are guaranteed some exposure to a mixture of CS concepts, same for EE. A masters degree / PhD are also reasonably defined. Can anyone produce a similar intuitive definition for an MBA ?

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#27

Post by jcampbell1 » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:41 AM UTC

edj wrote: post #25

1. Google and the other big boyz talk a big game about doing no evil, but giving out huge salaries and signing bonuses to attract the best talent is just plain evil from my vantage-point. This is parody, right?

Yes, I think the tone is meant to be lighthearted. Though from the rest of the comments on hacker news, I think the author missed the mark.

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#28

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:44 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#29

Post by wdrury » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:46 AM UTC

Assume that he really cannot dole out a huge salary ... how much should he be offering in equity?

Assume that I'm a badass software developer who specializes in scalable web-based systems. In that case, you can also assume that a.) plenty of people approach me with their middling ideas all the time, wanting me to work for peanuts/equity, and b.) I already have a job.

What else could he offer that I might find motivating?

Re: Memoirs from a Disgruntled MBA

#30

Post by trussi » Wed, Jul 13, 2011, 1:53 AM UTC

wdrury wrote: post #29

Assume that he really cannot dole out a huge salary ... how much should he be offering in equity? Assume that I'm a badass software developer who specializes in scalable web-based systems. In that case, you can also assume that a.) plenty of people approach me with their middling ideas all the time, wanting me to work for peanuts/equity, and b.) I already have a job. What else could he offer that I might find motivat…

First, timing/serendipity is a huge factor and there's nothing anybody can do about that other than keep at it.

To answer your question: Offer a real chance of success.

Success is my personal financial success, not just company success and it has to be financial success.

How many POS startups are out there that will never amount to anything?! 50% of 0 is 0.

Prove that you (the hustler) have what it takes to make this opportunity succeed.

Prove that this opportunity WILL succeed.

Give me enough equity that will pay 3-5X my base salary with the low/conservative projections and 20X my base salary with the homerun projections. That's based on a 2-3 year commitment.

Give me the ability to do my thing (hacking) without you (the hustler) meddling in it.

It's pretty easy, if you're a really good hustler who's actually out there making it happen.