Yeah I think that is pretty much how Google found all those awesome engineers from Digital Research and Bell Labs back in 1999-2002. These really seasoned engineers were surprised by what Google had accomplished and wanted to know how the hell it worked.
Why should awesome devlopers, however defined, want to work at your startup?
When you have a good answer to that question, then it's just a matter of making it known to awesome developers. That task will be a lot easier if you actually have a good answer to that question.
Reminder - every startup promises to change the world, cool technology, lots of resources, great people to work with so if you're different ....
Seconded. I understand that SF is the place where all the cool kids play, but it's kind of sad that in this day and age of the internet we're still chained to desks in a particular location.
Another subtle reason telecommuting gets dismissed is that a lot of startups are looking for people who will grow into different leadership roles (architects, mentors, team leads, process drivers and hiring managers to name a few) and it's just much easier to identify those specific strengths in person.
You can call that laziness on management's part but managing remote team members also requires a different kind of discipline that many startups probably don't have yet.
Once I'm looking to hire someone a thousand miles a way I might as well look for someone cheap on the other side of the planet. A telecommuter in Arkansas is in the same job market as all the guys in Bangalore, not the guys in SF.
Have something worth working on. No one wants to work on the next groupon clone, but if you have a company that's trying to change an entire market(and has a real shot at doing so) A+ developers will knock down your door to work with you.
For considerably more bang for your buck, rather than implement a mixed bag of "this and that" gimmicks to "find awesome developers", companies should focus on eliminating all the things they are doing to drive away awesome developers.
Finding awesome developers is easy. For example, look at popular and respected projects on GitHub. Search Google. Attend conferences. Go to meetups. I could go on, there are countless ways.
Hiring those developers is hard unless they think you/your company are awesome.
Streamline your hiring process so it's not so expensive. We talk about agile software and fast iteration all the time, but we don't apply it to employees. It shouldn't be so expensive to decrease the level of filtering on incoming resumes, try more people out, and get rid of the ones that don't work out.
Otherwise, the alternative is to create ridiculous criteria that doesn't even describe a good employee for your situation. Instead of being productive in a company, I'm off developing a me-too open source project just to even get a chance of getting hired to a decent position. This is infuriatingly frustrating from the point of view of someone who is a great developer but enjoys things other than programming.
The difficulty is that bad developers aren't just inefficient, they can do extensive damage to your project quickly, while also costing you a great deal of money. Paying a developer 4k to write code you have a scrap, while tying up your good developers while they struggle through basic problems.
The challenge is coming up with good criteria to evaluate people on. I feel your pain that oftentimes the criteria has nothing to do with the actual job, but in large part it's a signal that the company isn't worth working for if they don't know what they want.
This is the other unseen cost of being in a bubble. All the best talent gets tied up in lame duck me-too companies, and makes it impossible to hire people for the good companies.
Doesn't the fact that the talented engineer picked a lame-duck company cause him/her to lose points? A good engineer should be equally good at making big bets, especially when it comes to picking a company he/she wants to work for.
I've basically spammed every person I know for months. In person, in email, on Twitter, on LinkedIn... it doesn't matter, I ask all the time. If that doesn't work, I find companies that are going under and then use LinkedIn to find employees there and go on the attack.
Sadly, professional recruiters (who are taking upwards of 20% of the first year salary at this point)... are far better than I am at it (which is why I've retained a few).
At this point though, I'd probably be willing to offer anyone a 20% referral fee (~$20-30k) for a top-notch iOS developer.
Actually, this was one of the original reasons I set out to build our new startup http://www.venturocket.com We use a unique skill keyword-based pay-per-connection bidding and matching system as a means of filtering out unqualified candidates. I'd love to invite you to try it out, and hopefully it will help you with your awesome developer search (at least once we get more users!)! :)
Run a get together at a local bar, whether a one-off or a monthly thing, centered around something developers find interesting. Spread the word as best you can, let people know you'll be buying a few rounds and that stimulating discussion will be had.
I've found that in that kind of environment I figure out very quickly if someone knows their stuff and would be a good fit or not.
To recruiting of developer for the start up should be on the basis of talent means in which technology he/she have exceptional skill and good analytically skill these has to be assess by the interviewer. But it's not on the basis of college and grades. These kind of things can leads a problem for developer as well as company.
What about a start-up that is on the ground level and doesn't have traction?? Has a solid concept but is in need of a kick ass developer to really make the project take off...whats the best route in that situation?
I’ve recently started going to Python meetups. At the last one I attended, the technical presentation was given by the CTO of a local startup, and he made sure to let all of us know that he was hiring. At the one before that, another startup covered the tab for the post-meeting trip to the pub, and somebody from that startup passed out postcards encouraging people to apply.
I have no idea how effective the technique is, but the principle seems sound: everyone at the meetup can be assumed to have interest/skill in Python, and this way you target them without opening yourself up to being spammed by job-seekers who are desperate but not competent.
no way. talents are made, by himself or great employer. it's a wrong question to ask where to find them. as entrepreneur, your job is to make people excellent.
I'm not sure that is true. I agree that talent is made (thanks, K. Anders Ericsson), but I think that anyone running a business has a finite amount of their own resources to spend. Devoting more of those resources to developing employees takes them away from developing the business.
To put it another way: the harder your job is, the less likely you are to succeed. Less skilled employees make your job harder.
[+] [-] ianterrell|14 years ago|reply
Want awesome devs? Do awesome shit.
[+] [-] lowglow|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chubot|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] anamax|14 years ago|reply
When you have a good answer to that question, then it's just a matter of making it known to awesome developers. That task will be a lot easier if you actually have a good answer to that question.
Reminder - every startup promises to change the world, cool technology, lots of resources, great people to work with so if you're different ....
[+] [-] navyrain|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jbermudes|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jianshen|14 years ago|reply
You can call that laziness on management's part but managing remote team members also requires a different kind of discipline that many startups probably don't have yet.
[+] [-] guelo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] daimyoyo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bugsy|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arihelgason|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] guelo|14 years ago|reply
Seems strange for YC to fund a non-scalable business.
[+] [-] diego|14 years ago|reply
Hiring those developers is hard unless they think you/your company are awesome.
[+] [-] BrandonM|14 years ago|reply
Otherwise, the alternative is to create ridiculous criteria that doesn't even describe a good employee for your situation. Instead of being productive in a company, I'm off developing a me-too open source project just to even get a chance of getting hired to a decent position. This is infuriatingly frustrating from the point of view of someone who is a great developer but enjoys things other than programming.
[+] [-] vailripper|14 years ago|reply
The challenge is coming up with good criteria to evaluate people on. I feel your pain that oftentimes the criteria has nothing to do with the actual job, but in large part it's a signal that the company isn't worth working for if they don't know what they want.
[+] [-] axiom|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] psychotik|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Aloisius|14 years ago|reply
Sadly, professional recruiters (who are taking upwards of 20% of the first year salary at this point)... are far better than I am at it (which is why I've retained a few).
At this point though, I'd probably be willing to offer anyone a 20% referral fee (~$20-30k) for a top-notch iOS developer.
[+] [-] Aqua_Geek|14 years ago|reply
How important is it that candidates have a passion for food?
[+] [-] hoag|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mef|14 years ago|reply
I've found that in that kind of environment I figure out very quickly if someone knows their stuff and would be a good fit or not.
[+] [-] dizm|14 years ago|reply
- Someone who gets things done, maybe using bailing wire and duck tape.
- Someone who can solve problems no one else can
- Someone you can have a beer with.
- Someone who doesn't have a mind of their own and keeps their mouth shut.
- Someone who can't keep their mouth shut and thinks everything you do is wrong.
Sometimes you have to choose.
[+] [-] ratandeep|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sebkomianos|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chaplibm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sebg|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sethg|14 years ago|reply
I have no idea how effective the technique is, but the principle seems sound: everyone at the meetup can be assumed to have interest/skill in Python, and this way you target them without opening yourself up to being spammed by job-seekers who are desperate but not competent.
[+] [-] phamilton|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] exabrial|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wangii|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sgentle|14 years ago|reply
To put it another way: the harder your job is, the less likely you are to succeed. Less skilled employees make your job harder.