Just need a hacker dude and we'll be rich
sfbay.craigslist.orgThis looks like a reasonable advertisement for a first technical hire at a somewhat flaky startup self-evident web marketing competence. (yes, we're onto your game)
What's the big deal?
The big deal is that it's honest, and funny, and still kind of crappy.
In good fun, "knows what bootstrap means and likes it" translates to "minority share and you'll be doing all the work."
Bootstrap doesn't mean "minority share". It means "low salary".
Wow, given the line it was on, I had a rather different impression:
Sorry, the parenthesis break the URL detecting, so you'd need to copy/paste. (Bug?)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping_(statistics)
but dude, machine learning! You will eat your words once Sproost makes Strong AI.
And uses it to, um, make interior design accessible to everyone. Just like we all secretly dream to do.
I will eat anybody's words once anybody mankes Strong OR Weak AI.
Of the "I just need a hacker" posts, it's among the best.
Maybe it's still damned by its genre.
What happened to consistency? You people disappoint me. I clicked on this comment thread expecting disdainful sneers, not cautious optimism.
Because if you follow the link you'll find that the headline was in jest.
From the listing: The founding team has a strong vision for Sproost and can happily share all of the details with you. But we call BS on anyone who says they know what the future holds...
Well played. I like these guys.
What beverage would you ask them to buy you? I'd ask for a Becks. What does that say about me? I dunno.
Jaegerbomb = worldly, likes red bull, can hang with the corporate jocks, likes to mix things up, can handle the ups and downs of everything (you know upper and downers).
thats enough
i like that justification a lot, you're hired
A beer snob beer, I guess, but not one of those uber-hoppy American microbrews. I'd take something Belgian or a hefeweizen.
Becks says you enjoy beer, aren't a beer snob, but likely don't drink to excess regularly in my professional opinon.
If you said Natural Ice...clearly either a drinking problem or stuck in the college days.
Arrogant bastard? Beer snob.
Smirnoff Ice? wtf?
personally i just go straight to the rubbing alcohol
reminds me of some simpsons episode (238. The Mansion Family) google tells me http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3976079/THE_SIMPSONS_SEASON_11_b...
You'll be the first true hire [...]
Hired people work for salary. The kind of people who qualify either command high salaries or shares.
Other than that it sounds like a nice job for a 20-year old hacker wanting to get some experience and buff up that resume in the process.
You'll become part of the founding team; together we'll architect and realize Sproost's vision.
Suggests that a considerable amount of equity compensation could be involved.
But yeah, when they said "first hire", that was my thought as well -- they basically want a technical cofounder / chief architect sort of person.
Only a nonhacker would care about degrees...
Obviously, they're nonhackers, which is why they seek a "hacker dude." How would you advise nonhackers to evaluate hackers?
I doubt there's really a good answer to that question. Looking for a degree is probably not the worst answer, though it may not be the best either (probably better than asking them what beverage they drink, which is presumably to establish their stuffwhitepeoplelike cred).
You have to know at least one hacker. Then you pay him to help you interview talent.
I'm always surprised by how poorly non-hackers can judge the abilities of hackers. If they are all non-hackers, they may not know who among their friends are even competent enough to help them identify a hacker.
> How would you advise nonhackers to evaluate hackers?
That's a very good question. Competent people generally know if they are better or worse than one of their peers. However, if no-one in your extended social circle is better than a mis-guided power user then you'd be unlikely to get a trusted and reliable opinion on ability.
In which case, a good proxy would be a de-emphasis on whizzy pixels. Any kid can make CSS menus and non-interactive Flash. However, how many normalise a database or install a firewall?
I'd advise them to read my article here, which covers just that:
http://www.inter-sections.net/2007/11/13/how-to-recognise-a-...
I don't get the impression that a degree is a requirement. Sounds like they just want to get beer with people, tell them about the idea, and see if they can find someone who is also passionate about their idea.
What's so bad about degrees? I know there was this discussion a while ago, but I forgot the gist of it.
I guess you don't need a degree to do a startup, but on the other hand, if you are young and you enjoy learning, there are worse things to do than hang around on campus of a nice university? I personally missed learning when I entered the "workforce". Sure, I try the odd new thing now and then, but it is not the same as the dedicated effort I made at university.
Interior decorating meets machine learning... I'm laughing right now, but I'm kinda interested.
degrees schmegrees
ads like these make me feel like I should change my major to CS, but I don't want to take all the required science classes
Make it a Dew