My first job as a programmer came as a suggestion from a friend who convinced me to apply and interview for a startup where he was working (Cayen Systems, http:

My first job as a programmer came as a suggestion from a friend who convinced me to apply and interview for a startup where he was working (Cayen Systems, http://www.cayen.net http://www.cayen.net). At the time, they were doing MS Access applications. (They've since grown much - I was employee number 4 or 5, now they've got 20 or 30, and they deal much more extensively with Web Apps than with Access). I left after a few years to start my own startup, even though that original idea never materialized, and I contracted for 4 years (including to my former employer) before starting a different startup (and the one I currently work on). And while I only had one official job as a programmer employee, it was awesome working there, and a great experience. Best boss I could have hoped to have had. He wasn't a programmer, and he trusted his programmers to make technical decisions. tl;dr: Friend worked there.