Comments on: Reverse Resume

By: Tony Wright

Tony Wright — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 17:08:00 +0000

I expect you’re right, especially for folks who are at the upper echelons of software development. But I do think that the best recruiters do their best to talk to the best candidates for the position they are shooting for… After all, they only make their real money if the hiring manager/team/candidate all come to an accord. Having hired a few recruiters in my day, I can say that hiring managers have very little patience for recruiters that bring them poor-fit candidates. The problem is that many of them really don’t have the skills to tell senior/expensive talent from “regular” talent.

By: Greg Linden

Greg Linden — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 02:12:00 +0000

Interesting post. However, in my experience, recruiters simply aren’t empowered to make the kind of offers that could pull out someone reluctant or expensive to move. My understanding is that they’re seeking easy targets, people who can be pulled out easily with a regular offer and get them their commission quickly. I think any kind of response that introduces complexity might as well be a no or even no response at all. Do you disagree?

By: theyoonery

theyoonery — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 15:37:00 +0000

awesome view. really puts great focus on companies and people that

By: Tony Wright

Tony Wright — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 14:18:00 +0000

That’s a really good question and I’ll give you a seriously existential answer.

With “missionary” (vs. mercenary) style startups (see #2), there’s generally an evangelical aspect. If you have something good, you want spread it far and wide (big market). Of course, this can be frustrating if you aren’t in a big impact market (“we want to revolutionize model trains and spread it across the world!”).

I know a lot of entrepreneurs who want to “make a dent in the world” and I personally feel there are better motivations to latch onto. We’re all throwing rocks into an ocean with our lives and the ripples will subside eventually. I’d much rather optimize for a *positive* dent than a huge dent (both are ideal!).

If you’re in startups to make $ and enjoy the rocketship ride (I enjoy both), there’s no doubt in my mind that you want to prioritize market size (see: the only thing that matters).
From my exposure, the rocketship companies that win in these markets often have the most missionary-style culture, too!

By: theyoonery

theyoonery — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 04:24:00 +0000

how important is scale of impact / market opportunity in your process now ? has this changed over the recent years ?