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YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

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Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#31

Post by blooalien »

rapind wrote: post #14
dpark wrote: post #11

I could imagine how a potential interviewee might say something like “I’d tattoo myself with your logo for a chance at a job” and a CEO might respond “Hell, yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.” What I can’t understand is how in a whole executive team, no one thought bringing a tattoo artist to tattoo potential interviewees with was a stupid idea. This wasn’t an accident, or surprise, like a tattoo artist…

Lizard people.

> "Lizard people."

I so yearn for "the good ol' days" when "tinfoil hatters" were ridiculed and statements like yours were still proper humor and not almost logical and halfway believable reality. I mean, lizards are cold-blooded and might benefit from a hotter Earth like we're currently "terraforming" towards after all...

Ummm... Excuse me while I run out and buy another roll or two of tinfoil...

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#32

Post by excalibur »

Mizza wrote: post #15

Equally as trashy and sick as Bumfights, the sort of thing that might happen in the early scenes of a documentary exposing the rise and fall of another fraudulent startup. I'm sure he'll be in the 30 under 30 soon.

All in favor of skipping the "rise" for this one

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#33

Post by danans »

dpark wrote: post #11

I could imagine how a potential interviewee might say something like “I’d tattoo myself with your logo for a chance at a job” and a CEO might respond “Hell, yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.” What I can’t understand is how in a whole executive team, no one thought bringing a tattoo artist to tattoo potential interviewees with was a stupid idea. This wasn’t an accident, or surprise, like a tattoo artist…

> I could imagine how a potential interviewee might say something like “I’d tattoo myself with your logo for a chance at a job” and a CEO might respond “Hell, yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.”

If I were that CEO I'd avoid that person because of their very poor judgement, lack of boundaries, and questionable self respect.

That you think it's even on the edge of normal describes the current balance of power in the tech job market in a nutshell, though.

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#34

Post by janalsncm »

> We are bold, we take risks, and we do things that haven’t been done before.

This is a very annoying line. Risk for the sake of risk is self-destructive. The risk-reward profile is what matters, and people respect risk taking with large upside.

Having your company’s logo tattooed on a bunch of random people is zero or negative upside.

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#35

Post by hackingonempty »

threatofrain wrote: post #22
dundarious wrote: post #20

From a job listing I saw here on the front page today. Instantly repulsive: > About the role > "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success" > You gotta be in founder mode. > Next.js web / React Native app. / Supabase, firebase, and Prisma. / Nest.js for WhatsApp / Open AI and Anthropic APIs for agents / So…

What company?

https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kontigo/jobs/xAo6tMt-f...

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#36

Post by moomoo11 »

dundarious wrote: post #20

From a job listing I saw here on the front page today. Instantly repulsive: > About the role > "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success" > You gotta be in founder mode. > Next.js web / React Native app. / Supabase, firebase, and Prisma. / Nest.js for WhatsApp / Open AI and Anthropic APIs for agents / So…

cringed ngl.

how about build for the customer / end user?

it’s not that big of a deal.

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#38

Post by tennisflyi »

dpark wrote: post #11

I could imagine how a potential interviewee might say something like “I’d tattoo myself with your logo for a chance at a job” and a CEO might respond “Hell, yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.” What I can’t understand is how in a whole executive team, no one thought bringing a tattoo artist to tattoo potential interviewees with was a stupid idea. This wasn’t an accident, or surprise, like a tattoo artist…

You seem to think people in tech/leadership are actually smart. Your mistake

Re: YC founder asks desperate job seekers to tattoo themselves for an interview

#39

Post by thephyber »

dpark wrote: post #11

I could imagine how a potential interviewee might say something like “I’d tattoo myself with your logo for a chance at a job” and a CEO might respond “Hell, yeah! That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for.” What I can’t understand is how in a whole executive team, no one thought bringing a tattoo artist to tattoo potential interviewees with was a stupid idea. This wasn’t an accident, or surprise, like a tattoo artist…

Group think. Monkey see, monkey do. It's actually remarkably difficult to be the only one to dissent unless you grew up in a culture where dissent is encouraged.

The people who work at a company all were filtered from the hiring process of the founder. If his filter included sycophants and suck-ups, he filtered out any dissent or critical thinking that could challenge his decisions. It's easy to get an exec team who doesn't diverge from decisions of the guy at the top, but obviously that much homogeneity / thought alignment comes with a cost.

Anyway, I'm glad this was publicized. Some rumored or one bad GlassDoor review can be easily overlooked; this will be a stain on the CEO's reputation for a while.

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