7 ms·

RethinkDB is hiring C/C++ engineers with irrational desire for world domination

69 points by coffeemug 17y ago

ludwig 17y ago
I wouldn't want to apply there. My desires for world domination are entirely rational.
Rauchg 17y ago
I thought there were 3 cofounders, now listing only 2. Is my memory serving me right?
- bkudria 17y ago
  Leif went back to finish his degree.
  - leif 17y ago
    This is true.
plinkplonk 17y ago
This is the kind of job description that I wish someone in India would advertise. The job boards hereabouts are full of the outsourced "maintain legacy enterprise systems" crap jobs. No I am not looking for a job [1], but this ad crystallized what I miss in the Indian sw/startup ecosystem. Too many people building db backed websites - clones of successful western products. Not much hardcore tech. Devs in the USA are lucky to a degree they aren't aware of. (Mildly) depressed. And as for jobs with upfront info about salaries/equity, we can only dream. [1] I am working on a cutting edge (non startup) project that involves a lot of Machine Learning and algorithmic complexity. If I were to advertise I could mostly cut and paste this ad - replace DB internals with Machine Learning - but this is very, very rare in India and I know a lot of talented devs who would give a great deal to be able to apply for such jobs without going through visa hassles and so on.
- wallop 17y ago
  The problem is, in the US even jobs where you will actually be maintaining legacy enterprise systems are advertised like this these days. Having seen so many job ads in this style recently, some cooked up as job-bait by recruiters, I tend to trust ads with more grounded language.
  - plinkplonk 17y ago
    Sure, but this is a YC funded startup (iirc) and I have a fair idea what they are doing and I am fairly certain that the ad describes what they actually do/want. What is wrong with the Indian sw "scene" is the almost complete absence of such companies . Who cares about professional recruiters pitches anyway? :-) .Most of them are liars and cheats (or so it is safer to assume, at least hereabouts), but yes, fair point!
  - coffeemug 17y ago
    We really are doing what the ad says. It's unfortunate that many people use bait-and-switch. We specifically tried to choose the wording to be as forthcoming as possible.
    - wallop 17y ago
      I believe you - I was just addressing plinkplonk's broader point about ads in this style and offering my own recent experience in the job market as a counterexample.
- patio11 17y ago
  The job boards hereabouts are full of the outsourced "maintain legacy enterprise systems" crap jobs. As someone who has both done Big Freaking Enterprise for the last three years and managed outsourcing of the same (to India, actually): please, find a way to fill my customer's needs in a manner which doesn't require custom development and put us all out of work. I think there are many, many opportunities for eating the enterprise elephant from within. (You also have to be able to sell them, obviously.)
blogimus 17y ago
So from the open req page: You know C/C++ like the back of your hand. So are they looking for C OR C++ programmers, either may apply? or are they looking for strong understanding of the nuances of both C and C++? I encounter a lot of "C/C++" on resumes and after interviewing a lot of folks, I've grown a distaste for this joined tag. The problem is that when I see "C/C++", I never know until I interview a candidate whether the intent is that "C/C++" is... 1) Shorthand for I program C and I program C++ (I know both well) 2) I program C with classes. I don't really know OOP, but I fake it with big class buckets. 3) I program in C++ and know OOP well, but I would get lost in the strict procedural world of C. If you don't get where I'm coming from, I've programmed in both for many years, and I will simply say that "C and C++ are two paradigms separated by a common language."
- coffeemug 17y ago
  This is a great point. In this case, we mean C or C++, as long as you know your language of choice well.
  - krakensden 17y ago
    ... is your software written in both? Or you just figure if you can do one you can learn the other?
    - leif 17y ago
      I won't speak for Slava, but I think generally the idea is that knowing either one well enough implies a certain amount of knowledge about computer guts, which in turn implies that it shouldn't be too hard for you to learn the other. Technically it's in C++, though, if that helps.
      - mahmud 17y ago
        Plus it's not entirely unheard of to do the core of the application in C, and offer a C++ API to users. There is a good reason to have both expertise inhouse.
david927 17y ago
And if you know C++ and would like to beat these guys for world domination in a co-founder role, contact me. My email is in my profile.
alexgartrell 17y ago
I think I might be somewhat representative of the target audience for interns (maybe), so here's my two cents - Really cool stuff. Anything heavily concurrent in C is just cool. Highlighting that even more is going to get you more of the right kinds of candidates IMHO. - Call for interns in the fall. Offers start going out for internships in the late fall and early winter. - The world domination stuff is hokey. Every company is feeding us this stuff. - Do interns get free housing? What are the perks? - Your pay for interns is very standard (which is a good thing). But seriously, very cool ad.
- coffeemug 17y ago
  Thanks for your feedback, we'll incorporate it into the jobs page. To answer some points here, we do not arrange housing for the interns (you can probably crash our place until you find a sublet, and we can put interns in contact with each other so they can self-organize). We didn't completely define the perks yet, but it'll be pretty standard stuff. I agree that the world domination stuff is hokey, but it's catchy and it grabs people's attention, so it serves its purpose pretty well. If in doubt, apply! We're pretty flexible when it comes to the details.
biotech 17y ago
I am impressed by the inclusion of the salary chart right there in the job posting, as an engineer who dislikes the salary negotiation game (I am inevitably at a strategic disadvantage, playing against managers who have far more experience at the game than I). At least this way, the engineer knows where he/she stands.
- ohashi 17y ago
  I thought it was even more interesting they put stock options right there too.
  - jganetsk 17y ago
    And the offerings in terms of stock options are relatively good
  - gruseom 17y ago
    Not only that, they cut straight to the chase and put the value in % of the company. In fact, has anyone ever seen a job post like this? I know I haven't; I'd remember. It's highly unusual in its straightforwardness. I'd guess that's pretty appealing to the kind of hacker they're looking for.
    - coffeemug 17y ago
      There aren't any others that I know of. Most people are incredibly secretive about their stock options - to the point that they give you a vague absolute number (that will likely split or merge at exit) without disclosing a percentage. It's mathematically impossible to evaluate offers like that. "Ten thousand shares" sounds better than 0.001%, though. There are some very good arguments for keeping the information closed, but we thought we'd try it. So far we've had very positive reaction, but the real test is internal dynamics as the company grows.
      - gruseom 17y ago
        Just out of curiosity, what are the arguments that you considered for keeping the information closed? A somewhat related anecdote... I recall with chagrin the first startup I joined. The CEO was a friend of mine. I kept asking him how much equity he was offering as a percentage. He kept responding evasively by snowing me with all sorts of dealy jargon that I didn't understand. In retrospect, of course, he was concealing the fact that the percentage was negligible. At the time, though, insecure in my knowledge of business, I walked away thinking that I was a pathetic noob for having the idea that percentage was a meaningful metric. (This guy was good at what he did, which was deceive smart but gullible people.) That experience is one reason I like your job post. I totally agree with the commenter who said that they hate the jockeying of the negotiation process and would find it a relief to just know up front. Anyway, I find your post to be an interesting experiment and I think many of us would like to see a follow-up report on it someday.
antirez 17y ago
I'm pretty excited by the fact that in the DB scene there are also new players in the closed source side. If we want to make sure that in the end we'll have the best solutions I guess different economic and development models should compete as well, not only technology. For instance if I remember correctly MySQL initially started as a closed source product.
swah 17y ago
Who would say..
- swah 17y ago
  C++ is the language du jour again!
  - queensnake 17y ago
    Actually I can see a future for it as energy gets more expensive (it's more efficient), and people, cheaper.
maxklein 17y ago
"Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen and Leiserson is your trusty friend." I have this in my bookshelf. Every time I walk by, I can feel it gloating at me with a smug expression. The rare times I make eye-contact with it, it seems to say "Want some more? Come on back, I've got more, I'll teach you another lesson!"
- coffeemug 17y ago
  This book is like toothpaste - no matter how long you use it for, you can always squeeze more out of it. There should be a theorem of some kind about that.

69 points by coffeemug 17y ago

ludwig 17y ago

I wouldn't want to apply there. My desires for world domination are entirely rational.

Rauchg 17y ago

I thought there were 3 cofounders, now listing only 2. Is my memory serving me right?

bkudria 17y ago
Leif went back to finish his degree.
- leif 17y ago
  This is true.

plinkplonk 17y ago

This is the kind of job description that I wish someone in India would advertise. The job boards hereabouts are full of the outsourced "maintain legacy enterprise systems" crap jobs. No I am not looking for a job [1], but this ad crystallized what I miss in the Indian sw/startup ecosystem. Too many people building db backed websites - clones of successful western products. Not much hardcore tech. Devs in the USA are lucky to a degree they aren't aware of. (Mildly) depressed. And as for jobs with upfront info about salaries/equity, we can only dream. [1] I am working on a cutting edge (non startup) project that involves a lot of Machine Learning and algorithmic complexity. If I were to advertise I could mostly cut and paste this ad - replace DB internals with Machine Learning - but this is very, very rare in India and I know a lot of talented devs who would give a great deal to be able to apply for such jobs without going through visa hassles and so on.

wallop 17y ago
The problem is, in the US even jobs where you will actually be maintaining legacy enterprise systems are advertised like this these days. Having seen so many job ads in this style recently, some cooked up as job-bait by recruiters, I tend to trust ads with more grounded language.
- plinkplonk 17y ago
  Sure, but this is a YC funded startup (iirc) and I have a fair idea what they are doing and I am fairly certain that the ad describes what they actually do/want. What is wrong with the Indian sw "scene" is the almost complete absence of such companies . Who cares about professional recruiters pitches anyway? :-) .Most of them are liars and cheats (or so it is safer to assume, at least hereabouts), but yes, fair point!
- coffeemug 17y ago
  We really are doing what the ad says. It's unfortunate that many people use bait-and-switch. We specifically tried to choose the wording to be as forthcoming as possible.
  - wallop 17y ago
    I believe you - I was just addressing plinkplonk's broader point about ads in this style and offering my own recent experience in the job market as a counterexample.
patio11 17y ago
The job boards hereabouts are full of the outsourced "maintain legacy enterprise systems" crap jobs. As someone who has both done Big Freaking Enterprise for the last three years and managed outsourcing of the same (to India, actually): please, find a way to fill my customer's needs in a manner which doesn't require custom development and put us all out of work. I think there are many, many opportunities for eating the enterprise elephant from within. (You also have to be able to sell them, obviously.)

blogimus 17y ago

So from the open req page: You know C/C++ like the back of your hand. So are they looking for C OR C++ programmers, either may apply? or are they looking for strong understanding of the nuances of both C and C++? I encounter a lot of "C/C++" on resumes and after interviewing a lot of folks, I've grown a distaste for this joined tag. The problem is that when I see "C/C++", I never know until I interview a candidate whether the intent is that "C/C++" is... 1) Shorthand for I program C and I program C++ (I know both well) 2) I program C with classes. I don't really know OOP, but I fake it with big class buckets. 3) I program in C++ and know OOP well, but I would get lost in the strict procedural world of C. If you don't get where I'm coming from, I've programmed in both for many years, and I will simply say that "C and C++ are two paradigms separated by a common language."

coffeemug 17y ago
This is a great point. In this case, we mean C or C++, as long as you know your language of choice well.
- krakensden 17y ago
  ... is your software written in both? Or you just figure if you can do one you can learn the other?
  - leif 17y ago
    I won't speak for Slava, but I think generally the idea is that knowing either one well enough implies a certain amount of knowledge about computer guts, which in turn implies that it shouldn't be too hard for you to learn the other. Technically it's in C++, though, if that helps.
    - mahmud 17y ago
      Plus it's not entirely unheard of to do the core of the application in C, and offer a C++ API to users. There is a good reason to have both expertise inhouse.

david927 17y ago

And if you know C++ and would like to beat these guys for world domination in a co-founder role, contact me. My email is in my profile.

alexgartrell 17y ago

I think I might be somewhat representative of the target audience for interns (maybe), so here's my two cents - Really cool stuff. Anything heavily concurrent in C is just cool. Highlighting that even more is going to get you more of the right kinds of candidates IMHO. - Call for interns in the fall. Offers start going out for internships in the late fall and early winter. - The world domination stuff is hokey. Every company is feeding us this stuff. - Do interns get free housing? What are the perks? - Your pay for interns is very standard (which is a good thing). But seriously, very cool ad.

coffeemug 17y ago
Thanks for your feedback, we'll incorporate it into the jobs page. To answer some points here, we do not arrange housing for the interns (you can probably crash our place until you find a sublet, and we can put interns in contact with each other so they can self-organize). We didn't completely define the perks yet, but it'll be pretty standard stuff. I agree that the world domination stuff is hokey, but it's catchy and it grabs people's attention, so it serves its purpose pretty well. If in doubt, apply! We're pretty flexible when it comes to the details.

biotech 17y ago

I am impressed by the inclusion of the salary chart right there in the job posting, as an engineer who dislikes the salary negotiation game (I am inevitably at a strategic disadvantage, playing against managers who have far more experience at the game than I). At least this way, the engineer knows where he/she stands.

ohashi 17y ago
I thought it was even more interesting they put stock options right there too.
- jganetsk 17y ago
  And the offerings in terms of stock options are relatively good
- gruseom 17y ago
  Not only that, they cut straight to the chase and put the value in % of the company. In fact, has anyone ever seen a job post like this? I know I haven't; I'd remember. It's highly unusual in its straightforwardness. I'd guess that's pretty appealing to the kind of hacker they're looking for.
  - coffeemug 17y ago
    There aren't any others that I know of. Most people are incredibly secretive about their stock options - to the point that they give you a vague absolute number (that will likely split or merge at exit) without disclosing a percentage. It's mathematically impossible to evaluate offers like that. "Ten thousand shares" sounds better than 0.001%, though. There are some very good arguments for keeping the information closed, but we thought we'd try it. So far we've had very positive reaction, but the real test is internal dynamics as the company grows.
    - gruseom 17y ago
      Just out of curiosity, what are the arguments that you considered for keeping the information closed? A somewhat related anecdote... I recall with chagrin the first startup I joined. The CEO was a friend of mine. I kept asking him how much equity he was offering as a percentage. He kept responding evasively by snowing me with all sorts of dealy jargon that I didn't understand. In retrospect, of course, he was concealing the fact that the percentage was negligible. At the time, though, insecure in my knowledge of business, I walked away thinking that I was a pathetic noob for having the idea that percentage was a meaningful metric. (This guy was good at what he did, which was deceive smart but gullible people.) That experience is one reason I like your job post. I totally agree with the commenter who said that they hate the jockeying of the negotiation process and would find it a relief to just know up front. Anyway, I find your post to be an interesting experiment and I think many of us would like to see a follow-up report on it someday.

antirez 17y ago

I'm pretty excited by the fact that in the DB scene there are also new players in the closed source side. If we want to make sure that in the end we'll have the best solutions I guess different economic and development models should compete as well, not only technology. For instance if I remember correctly MySQL initially started as a closed source product.

swah 17y ago

Who would say..

swah 17y ago
C++ is the language du jour again!
- queensnake 17y ago
  Actually I can see a future for it as energy gets more expensive (it's more efficient), and people, cheaper.

maxklein 17y ago

"Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen and Leiserson is your trusty friend." I have this in my bookshelf. Every time I walk by, I can feel it gloating at me with a smug expression. The rare times I make eye-contact with it, it seems to say "Want some more? Come on back, I've got more, I'll teach you another lesson!"

coffeemug 17y ago
This book is like toothpaste - no matter how long you use it for, you can always squeeze more out of it. There should be a theorem of some kind about that.