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Stop Speaking in Bullshit

blog.danilocampos.com

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Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#51

Post by danilocampos »

malbiniak wrote: post #49

Can we call this what it is? Need help with an iOS project? Let's talk, I'm great with both UX and code. If I can help you out with a project you’re working on, let’s talk. I think it's great that companies are finally starting to recognize the value of their workforce (eg Zappos, 37signals, Groupon, JetBlue, Google). If the original job post didn't have YC associated with it, would any of you have taken it seriously…

Damn, that could have been a great angle. Not really my skillset, though. Besides, I have a job. And other plans.

Please, though -- my name is Danilo, not Dan.

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#52

Post by danilocampos »

edanm wrote: post #32

Just a curiosity: I wonder if there was a sentence to read my mother over the phone when the iPhone came out which would have made her understand what it is. I doubt it, yet Apple is considered the masters of this field. In other words, I think the Google Car thing is an unusual and extreme example. Most tech products, including smart phones and including almost every web app I use, don't have a "killer sentence" whi…

I think there was, though. Apple's release read:

“Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone”

So you can easily convey the goal. Then:

"Apple® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device."

Some puffery but reasonably clear what's going on.

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#53

Post by davidu »

MrIncognito wrote: post #28
cperciva wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's part of the answer, but not all. Telling me what tools you need me to use helps me determine if I'm qualified or not; but it doesn't tell me what I would be doing with those tools. I'd rather solve interesting problems in a language I hated than solve boring problems in a language I loved.

Heh hold your horses, Colin. The tools are only there to show you that you can't live in one and ignore all others here. And you're right, I spent a lot less time telling you what's great about the company than I did on trying to make it obvious who we're not looking for. That's because we're looking for a very specific breed of person. In this startup, you will not only be doing engineering, but also answering custo…

Why aren't you saying what company it is?

What do you think you gain by keeping it secret?

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#55

Post by danielnicollet »

InfinityX0 wrote: post #7

The strange thing about this article is I read the first patch of job descriptions and I thought you were poised to make fun of them - not the latter one. Those first descriptions make me wonder if it's really OK to run the same startup template again and again, even if you say that it makes you "human". I expect to read that first job description amongst a million three-person startups - besides maybe the profitable…

Same here. Pardon my French (I can say that, I am French ;-) but there is also a lot of bullshit, predictable and lame developer's jobs in the world of hot startups too. How many devs join a young hot startup thinking they are going get a chance to create a great new product or improve on one, and find themselves working out the quirks of old core code, or regressing boring bugs all day long? or worse: find themselves without a job 3 months later because the startup ran out of cash? I think this article is full of "clichés".

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#56

Post by edanm »

danilocampos wrote: post #52
edanm wrote: post #32

Just a curiosity: I wonder if there was a sentence to read my mother over the phone when the iPhone came out which would have made her understand what it is. I doubt it, yet Apple is considered the masters of this field. In other words, I think the Google Car thing is an unusual and extreme example. Most tech products, including smart phones and including almost every web app I use, don't have a "killer sentence" whi…

I think there was, though. Apple's release read: “Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone” So you can easily convey the goal. Then: "Apple® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device." Some…

The first sentence doesn't describe what it does, really.

And the paragraph, while reasonably clear to me and you, probably means nothing to "most people". The idea of "touch controls" was practically unheard-of before the iPhone.

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#57

Post by cperciva »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #45
cperciva wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strange thing about this article is I read the first patch of job descriptions and I thought you were poised to make fun of them Me too. This bit could describe the local transit system: " We’re profitable, make the lives of hundreds of thousands of people better every month, have a rapidly expanding user base, and napping is an encouraged part of our corporate culture. " Maybe I'm unusual, but my idea of a perfe…

>This bit could describe the local transit system You don't happen to live in Toronto, do you?

No, Vancouver.

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#58

Post by cperciva »

MrIncognito wrote: post #28
cperciva wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's part of the answer, but not all. Telling me what tools you need me to use helps me determine if I'm qualified or not; but it doesn't tell me what I would be doing with those tools. I'd rather solve interesting problems in a language I hated than solve boring problems in a language I loved.

Heh hold your horses, Colin. The tools are only there to show you that you can't live in one and ignore all others here. And you're right, I spent a lot less time telling you what's great about the company than I did on trying to make it obvious who we're not looking for. That's because we're looking for a very specific breed of person. In this startup, you will not only be doing engineering, but also answering custo…

I agree with lemming: That comment should be in your job posting text.

Re: Stop Speaking in Bullshit

#59

Post by cperciva »

hasenj wrote: post #29
cperciva wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strange thing about this article is I read the first patch of job descriptions and I thought you were poised to make fun of them Me too. This bit could describe the local transit system: " We’re profitable, make the lives of hundreds of thousands of people better every month, have a rapidly expanding user base, and napping is an encouraged part of our corporate culture. " Maybe I'm unusual, but my idea of a perfe…

I actually find it boring to apply for a job to "design algorithms to target advertising". Think about it: do you want to do that for the next 10 years of your life? Do you want the next 10 years of your life to revolve around such a thing? Even if you don't mind it: is that what entices you to apply for the job? I don't care what the work itself is. I care about the environment and the culture. I'd rather design a s…

I don't want to design algorithms for targetting adverts, either. That's why I think job postings should include such information -- so that people can say "nope, not interested" without going through a lengthy interview process.
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