3 ms·

As much as I like the idea, let's be realistic. How many secretaries are out there with coding chops? (full disclosure: I didn't read it all the way through.

• lsc 17y ago
  I hire such people. Now, usually they either think of themselves as a secretary or as a programmer, and sometimes feel put upon when asked to take the other role, but I think it's completely realistic (and a good idea) to populate your company entirely with people who can at least handle simple scripting languages. It is more expensive, either in terms of time (you /can/ find that diamond in the rough college student who is super organised and a reasonable coder and willing to work for $15/hr, but you have to spend a lot of time looking, and usually kiss a few frogs, and the person will leave for better wages as soon as others notice they are good.) or in terms of salary (anyone who can program reasonably well really is worth quite a bit more than that.)
• replicatorblog 17y ago
  Very few if you think of them in "Mad Men" era terms. However, consider that 30% of Stanford's Law class can't get a job and what that means for good schools and students further down the ranks. There is a surplus of talent that is happy to "Run Ops" at an early stage startup for a reasonable wage. Finding someone to deal with VistaPrint for business cards, set up Zoho, and write a simple script isn't impossible. It doesn't work at a 1,000 person company but 20 guys in a loft? sure.