Was there a followup to that story? It seems like the author made a lot of assumptions (I read PG article about Corp devs).
Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
201–210 of 300 posts
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#202For a period I was heavily recruited by google. Their recruiters tried a great many variations of attempts to trick me into interviewing for a job. It seems weird that they would do this, because pretty soon, it would become obvious that it was a job interview and nothing more. Maybe there are a lot of talented engineers out there who are doing startups but aren't really committed to them and google manages via the f…
Perhaps "corporate development" is biz-speak for "mergers and acquisitions", but from a literal perspective, a standard hire would develop the corporation.
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#203Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#204Recruiting is a lot like dating.
Companies are only interested in candidates that won't work for them and people would prefer to work for firms that won't hire them.
For all the talk about "competence" or "love" or even attractiveness or education, the only thing that really matters is social status.
All people ever want is trade up.
There are tricks to make this work; you can fool the other party (difficult and dangerous), you can fool yourself (easy and efficient, but kind of sad), or you can use different scales and engage in some kind of status exchange.
The recruiter needs to be a part of this trade by having some inherent tangible value themselves, to make the whole thing believable; I bet if Larry Page had made the call himself the whole thing might have worked, maybe even without any serious money offered.
But if the person on the other end of the line is a nobody the process is doomed from the start, because it signals there is no status on offer.
On the other hand, sending a copy of a former deal sounds needy and insecure, like a guy a party bragging that he used to date a model once -- something George Costanza would say. Why should anyone care? Are you dating a model right now is what we want to know.
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah all the comments on here about being tricked into job interviews just seem so crazy to me. Is google really so desperate to interview people? I've always heard they get tons of applications and that it's incredibly difficult (and time consuming) to get an offer after an interview with them, so why would they be going through all of this trouble to get people in the funnel? I'm really not sure what to make of it…
Given the legendary meat-grind that is the Google interview process, perhaps people need to be tricked to overcome the initial aversion. Since Google can throw money at recruitment, they basically don't care about wasting their own time, which means they might waste quite a lot of yours.
If true, this is totally psychopathic behavior.
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
>So it's all a game, don't hate the players, hate the rules. There are no rules. Trying to paint this turd with catchy slogans isn't helpful either.
You're thinking of "rules" as in externally-imposed rules. The parent is using "rules" in the sense of social contracts and market incentives: best-practices that emerge from the game-theoretic equilibria between players. For example, "don't start a nuclear war" isn't an explicit rule by some world government, but it does seem to be a rule all the world-leaders are implicitly following. For another, "don't appear to…
And people are just unfeeling automata whose only value is to maximize their game theoretic outcomes. /s
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
$2M for an acquisition on top of an employment offer vs. $1M-$2M in salary and RSU's are vastly different in value. The acquisition pathway with your numbers would be 2-3 times the value before you discount the present value of the salary and RSU's because of the additional risks associated (even assuming the acquisition amount would be similarly restricted and spread out over time). It seems like you assume that an…
Yes, they're not exactly equivalent, on the other hand, you won't necessarily end up with the same salary and RSUs through an acquisition either. They're not going to acquire you for $2M plus give you an additional $200k vesting RSUs per year. Point being, there's nothing scammy about a deal being negotiated down, or falling through, and ending up as an employment offer instead of an acquisition, especially if they'r…
The scam aspect has nothing to do with the valuations or how much the author's startup is actually worth, or whether the deal 'fell through'.
It's the blatant dishonesty of the Googlers making the approach that is inexcusable.
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#208Recruiting is a lot like dating. Companies are only interested in candidates that won't work for them and people would prefer to work for firms that won't hire them. For all the talk about "competence" or "love" or even attractiveness or education, the only thing that really matters is social status. All people ever want is trade up. There are tricks to make this work; you can fool the other party (difficult and dang…
If that's your take on dating then I feel very sorry for you.
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
I read it as if he was speculating and drew conclusions based on that. I also fail to see how they masked the purpose. Again, what was he expecting exactly?
Exactly. It sounds to me like Google was possibly interested in purchasing the company, put out feelers, got a way-too-high asking price, and then lost interest. I'm not sure I buy the whole "faked identities" thing, but even if it's true, I fail to see why it's such an outrage. It doesn't seem any more harmful than me telling them, "I need to check with my family" as a way of buying time to consider a relocation. Pe…
Why would you feel the need to lie and say 'I need to check with my family', rather than just tell the truth with something like 'I need time to consider whether that suits me."?
Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
"What's wrong with this country? Can't a man walk down the street without being offered a job!?"
Sure, it's a VERY extreme example of "First World Problems" or whatever the meme is, but do you want a job when the offer is a con from the start? What kind of relationship with your employer does that create?
I've been feeling for a while now, software developers need agents.
I only talk to one recruiter. If I want a particular job I know is going I will direct him to it and he will handle any side lining from other recruiters.
Works a treat.