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A year or so ago you guys published the post Who Y Combinator Companies Want (http://blog.triplebyte.com/who-y-combinator-companies-want http://blog.triplebyte.

A year or so ago you guys published the post Who Y Combinator Companies Want (http://blog.triplebyte.com/who-y-combinator-companies-want http://blog.triplebyte.com/who-y-combinator-companies-want) and A Taxonomy of Programmers (http://blog.triplebyte.com/a-taxonomy-of-programmers http://blog.triplebyte.com/a-taxonomy-of-programmers), both of which were quite interesting and insightful in terms of data. How do the types of engineers Apple or Facebook want compare to that?

ammon 10y ago
So, those are not (unfortunately!) the primary way that we match engineers with companies. It comes down to questions about how important it is that engineers are strong in academic CS (some organizations think very, others think it's useless fluff), how important programming speed is (some companies think very, others want to see careful testing and think speed is sign of shallowness), or whether it's important that engineers are strong in http / web systems (some think this is the core of what most engineers do, others want problem solving and intelligence and think web programming is teachable). Some companies want the best engineers, regardless of english level. Others value communication over engineers. It's simple stuff. But getting the data is HARD (companies themselves don't know how much they differ), and matching engineers on these criteria significantly boosts pass rates.
- tedmiston 10y ago
  That sounds excellent. What's the best way for an engineer to share their own values with respect to these attributes? For example, is there a way for me to say, "I prefer cultures which emphasize code quality ahead thoroughness and with an above average communication style"? (I haven't used Triplebyte yet.) I totally understand if this is part of the secret sauce and the answer is "just use it".
conjectures 10y ago
The taxonomy is interesting, but flawed. What founder wouldn't want a Child Prodigy on their team, someone who's 'going to found a company when they're older'? Someone with hustle and chops but happy to be a junior member. Likewise who'd want an 'idiosyncratic' Academic? Ignoring the fact that massive tools like Scala are some academic's project. Or that Google was founded by two PhD students... Obvs the former is going to get many 'yes please' and the later 'umm, maybe'.
- astrange 10y ago
  > What founder wouldn't want a Child Prodigy on their team, someone who's 'going to found a company when they're older'? Someone with hustle and chops but happy to be a junior member. I think this is the same trap as the old "smart and gets things done" post from Rands. Basically it just implies the programmer reading it is a super-genius, so now they'll want to keep reading your blog in case you compliment them some more.

ammon 10y ago

So, those are not (unfortunately!) the primary way that we match engineers with companies. It comes down to questions about how important it is that engineers are strong in academic CS (some organizations think very, others think it's useless fluff), how important programming speed is (some companies think very, others want to see careful testing and think speed is sign of shallowness), or whether it's important that engineers are strong in http / web systems (some think this is the core of what most engineers do, others want problem solving and intelligence and think web programming is teachable). Some companies want the best engineers, regardless of english level. Others value communication over engineers. It's simple stuff. But getting the data is HARD (companies themselves don't know how much they differ), and matching engineers on these criteria significantly boosts pass rates.

tedmiston 10y ago
That sounds excellent. What's the best way for an engineer to share their own values with respect to these attributes? For example, is there a way for me to say, "I prefer cultures which emphasize code quality ahead thoroughness and with an above average communication style"? (I haven't used Triplebyte yet.) I totally understand if this is part of the secret sauce and the answer is "just use it".

conjectures 10y ago

The taxonomy is interesting, but flawed. What founder wouldn't want a Child Prodigy on their team, someone who's 'going to found a company when they're older'? Someone with hustle and chops but happy to be a junior member. Likewise who'd want an 'idiosyncratic' Academic? Ignoring the fact that massive tools like Scala are some academic's project. Or that Google was founded by two PhD students... Obvs the former is going to get many 'yes please' and the later 'umm, maybe'.

astrange 10y ago
> What founder wouldn't want a Child Prodigy on their team, someone who's 'going to found a company when they're older'? Someone with hustle and chops but happy to be a junior member. I think this is the same trap as the old "smart and gets things done" post from Rands. Basically it just implies the programmer reading it is a super-genius, so now they'll want to keep reading your blog in case you compliment them some more.