4 ms·
Ask HN: How do I build upon what HN did for OldGeekJobs.com?
Here's my story:
1. Last Wednesday, I read Tim Bray's post "Old Geek" and it resonated with me because of experiences I've had.
https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2016/09/14/Old-Geek
2. I immediately created an MVP with a static site and Google Form.
http://imgur.com/a/kTJK9
3. It made HackerNews and got a tremendous response:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12506232
4. Over the next 2 days, I built out a more robust version of the site with Flask and Postgres.
Quartz then picked up the story:
5. http://qz.com/784118/someone-created-a-tech-job-board-for-people-over-30/
and now Inc.
6. http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/how-to-get-a-tech-job-when-youre-really-old-like-35.html
Now I'm iterating on PMF. I'd love to know what you think of the idea and how I can keep the momentum going.
- johnwheeler 10y agoHi Everyone. Maker of https://OldGeekJobs.com https://OldGeekJobs.com here. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a redundant comment but the text post won't render links. 1. Last Wednesday, I read Tim Bray's post "Old Geek" and it resonated with me because of experiences I've had. https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2016/09/14/Old-Geek https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2016/09/14/Old-Geek 2. I immediately created an MVP with a static site and Google Form. http://imgur.com/a/kTJK9 http://imgur.com/a/kTJK9 3. It made HackerNews and got a tremendous response: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12506232 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12506232 4. Over the next 2 days, I built out a more robust version of the site with Flask and Postgres. Quartz then picked up the story: 5. http://qz.com/784118/someone-created-a-tech-job-board-for-people-over-30/ http://qz.com/784118/someone-created-a-tech-job-board-for-pe... and now Inc. 6. http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/how-to-get-a-tech-job-when-youre-really-old-like-35.html http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/how-to-get-a-tech-job-when-... Now I'm iterating on PMF. I'd love to know what you think of the idea and how I can keep the momentum going.
- afarrell 10y agoWhen I (age 26) was looking for a job, I remember needing to know if the company sponsored visas (US->UK for me) and seeing that lots of other folks had the same question. Naively, I would have said that older folks are more settled and less interested in that. Upon actually reflecting on that, it might just be an unjustified ageist assumption.
- GFischer 10y agoFirst, I think you have to understand your own motivations - are you interested in pursuing this as a serious side project and/or startup? You found something interesting, a real or perceived market imbalance. If there really is a shortage of talent, and a shortage of jobs for people over 30, you could provide a curated pipeline. Now you have to find the other side - a job board is a two-sided marketplace, and those are hard. I'd talk with recruiters and HR people. Also with people that have been involved with job boards. I'd try to find a mentor among those. As a 35-year-old myself, something that you would have to address is prejudices on both sides of the equation: companies that believe that "old" programmers are no good, and developers that believe that company X is a "bullshit" job (most older developers will be pickier).
- johnwheeler 10y agoYes - this is solid advice. Thank you.
- GFischer 10y agoI just remembered that Y Combinator has accepted several job boards in the past. Maybe you can contact the founders of TheMuse, for example? (https://www.themuse.com/ https://www.themuse.com/)
- johnwheeler 10y agohttps://twitter.com/oldgeekjobs/status/778359329518780417 https://twitter.com/oldgeekjobs/status/778359329518780417
- GFischer 10y agoWell done :) I hope they answer !
- sfrailsdev 10y agoFrankly, I'd make it part of a non profit group to advocate for age blind hiring. Get donations, pay yourself a reasonable salary, have the job board be part of it.
- johnwheeler 10y agoWhy?
- anexprogrammer 10y agoI'd suggest you start blogging often, now, while you figure out the rest. Think in terms of shattering myths and prejudices, and if you can find some, case studies of cool 55 year olds happy to be at a startup surrounded by 25 year olds, or expert in a new hot tech. You can poke fun at, well discuss, the whole recruitment process and the remember algoritms on a whiteboard or how many piano tuners in Seattle questions. Then there's the recruiters and the blinkers of ageism, youngism, sexism, and seeking "like us". You've material for a few thousand posts! It'll create something of a knowledgebase and become google food for incoming searches. Some companies believe that old programmers are expensive, or won't put up with hours bullshit. Recruiters and HR often believe they're no good, inflexible, unhappy to be around young people, and all the other cliches. I've found that if you can get past these to the people who actually matter the age matters far less. I'd try getting to talk to senior folks at agencies when you can - get past the layer of 20 year old sales to management who are probably older, and probably more sympathetic.
- johnwheeler 10y agoThis is awesome advice. Thank you.