How do you attract smart people to work at your startup? • Hacker News Board

Re: How do you attract smart people to work at your startup?

#21

Post by dhpye » Tue, Sep 25, 2007, 6:58 AM UTC

Speaking as a developer who joined a project started by a guy who had a great idea for a business, the things I looked for was a really solid business plan, a good understanding of the problem domain, and a map that showed how we could get from here to there in 18 months. I might be more cynical than most, having gone through 3 dotcoms as a developer, but I'm also more optimistic than most (having earned less than 20k in the last year while we build this thing and I earn my pony, and the estate upon which to esconce it).

Don't sweat the code if that's not your strength: focus on your business plan. Most seasoned coders have seen umpteen 'cool ideas' burn and die, and it's usually not technical issues from which Demise doth spawn. The one freakish happenstance of the current market is that, while most coders are not great risk takers, they are wonderful risk-smellers.

Some background: the progenitor of my current gig spent the last 3 years trying to build a business. He tried to outsource, and contract, and everybody told him it couldn't be done. We met through a mutual business acquaintance, and I fairly scoured his plans. 3 months later, we had a working prototype, and we launch in 4th quarter 2007.

Re: How do you attract smart people to work at your startup?

#22

Post by jkush » Tue, Sep 25, 2007, 12:38 PM UTC

Ask to see their work and then go with your gut feeling. Don't rely on arbitrary questions or other forms of measurement. When it comes to people, the proof is in the pudding and when you meet them, what your gut tells you.

I would have to imagine this is exactly how the YC application process works.

Re: How do you attract smart people to work at your startup?

#23

Post by paulgb » Tue, Sep 25, 2007, 2:36 PM UTC

axiom wrote: post #19

paulgb wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a student who will soon (spring/summer) be looking for an internship with a start-up, so I was reading this from the other point of view trying to figure out how start-ups recruit so I would know where to look. As it turns out, I am in Waterloo as well. I've been wondering for a while how much of a disadvantage I am in terms of getting an internship like this because I am not in the co-op program (besides advice…

Are you at a disadvantage by not being in co-op? Yes, definitely. Get in co-op. Seriously, it's really hard to overstate how valuable this is. However, a lot of companies that post jobs at UW also post them online. RIM for example hires hundreds of students from UW every term and their entire application process is online so you're probably not at a disadvantage there. Microsoft has their recruiting sessions here eve…

Thanks a lot for the response, I've asked a few people the same question but from an employer the response has a lot more weight. I likely will apply for co-op when the next opportunity comes around. Since you made it sound easy to get a job with some of the smaller/younger startups, I guess the benefit of coop is that the larger companies (RIM/MS/Google/etc.) will take me more seriously? My thinking was that if I choose not to reapply, I would leave my summers open if I felt like working on an open source project, or if I had an opportunity to do research, or get involved with a student start-up, or if I wanted to go home for a few months. I still have to wait a while before I can even apply to transfer, so I will see how things go before making my decision.