15 ms·

“Startup” asks internship applicant to build their app before phone screen

625 points by erklik 9y ago

a13n 9y ago
Yikes, the nerve. For a really junior applicant, getting a startup internship on your resume can be a big deal for your career. You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers. But realistically, I don't think the company would get much from an intern at this level. If they want the intern to build the app, then they better be good enough to demand payment. Doesn't seem like the company will be successful with this approach.
- GCU-Empiricist 9y ago
  Any ex-amazon Engineer who is too poor of a leader to see the basic logistic problem with a 3 month unpaid training is probably going to cause the toxic culture they are seeking to avoid.
- bspn 9y ago
  > You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers Reading the thread, it appears they were at most SWE interns at Amazon so the learning opportunities would be minimal I imagine. This feels all sorts of icky and the poster did the right thing by just walking away IMO.
  - mijoharas 9y ago
    > ...SWE interns at Amazon... I'm confused by this, when I was at amazon I was not aware of the role of SWE, (can someone tell me what it stands for?). We were SDE's, which was Software Development Engineer, and SDETs: Software Development Engineer Testing, and others, any idea what it is?
    - lightbyte 9y ago
      SWE is SoftWare Engineer. It's the same thing you know as SDE.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  > You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers. You are really overestimating the skills of an Amazon engineer. Or just working at Google/Microsoft/Facebook doesn’t say all that much about your skills.
  - 8ytecoder 9y ago
    Worse, the CTO was only an intern.
- jkingsbery 9y ago
  Just throwing this out there: you can learn a lot by working with current Amazon engineers, and having Amazon on your resume can be a big deal for your career. We train you on our stack, and as complex as it might be it will take less than 3 months. https://us-amazon.icims.com/jobs/473568/sde-intern/job?mobile=false&width=1245&height=1200&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240 https://us-amazon.icims.com/jobs/473568/sde-intern/job?mobil...
  - a13n 9y ago
    And they pay you too!
- bm1362 9y ago
  Yup, having an internship opens so many doors and if you're not going to a top school you hardly get a response from Google/Amazon/Facebook etc. I'd also bet that anyone who can build a Django photo sharing app with auth has a much better skillset than what I'd expect from a first-year intern. Intern's at Amazon, etc, tend to be pursuing a Masters and usually have some experience. One intern project was adding Jepsen testing to a distributed database, for example.
cure 9y ago
Ah, the startup is a photo sharing site. Of course. That explains the "very complex tech stack" that requires a 3 month unpaid stint before you can even get hired.
- jenskanis 9y ago
  Looking at their vacancies, getting hired equals an unpaid position with 2-5% equity. Maybe the landlord and local supermarket accepts equity with a 4-year vesting scheme.
  - fapjacks 9y ago
    Well, if your mom or dad pays your rent and groceries like these guys, no salary and 2-5% is totally realistic, I guess?
holtalanm 9y ago
'This position is paid after a 3 month training. This is non-negotiable and keeps us from hiring engineers that end up being toxic to our long term goals and just looking for a pay day' What the hell? That is the whole _point_ of a job. You know...to get paid for it. Like, what do they expect their employees to do for three months while they're not getting paid? Live in a cardboard box down by the river? I mean, I get it. It is probably just a scam to get people to work for free, but regardless, that policy is absolutely idiotic.
- jaymzcampbell 9y ago
  When I read that I was fuming on behalf of all the interns that have to put up with this sort of crap. It's disgusting. The original poster has named the company as "Bee Technologies Inc" [1]. They're also advertising for a "Junior Front End Engineer" for no salary and 2-5% equity. They seem to think they are doing the world a favour. Arrogance in the highest. [2] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/78rhz7/this_startup_asked_me_to_do_a_project_for_an/dowook9/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/78rhz7/t... [2] https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-front-end-engineer https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-fro...
  - holtalanm 9y ago
    _holy shit_ Yeah, this company is the absolute worst. I would also bet that the engineer would get fired before ever being able to cash out on that equity.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - onychomys 9y ago
    I wonder what they expect the dev to eat while he's working for them. Do they have free cookies every day in the office? The dev had better hope so! Oh, or there's calories in regular Coke, so as long as the guy doesn't prefer diet, maybe he can subsist on that!
mattgibson 9y ago
A week?? Our interview code test is to make a URL shortener (two endpoints: create and redirect, use any tech you like). I'd never expect more than 2 hours max to be spent on it. If you can't work out whether you want to employ someone based on that (and discussion of it with the candidate) then you're probably not worth working for.
- muzani 9y ago
  Also the really smart people tend to have a lot of choices. Anything too tedious actually puts off the people who have a lot of choices, so you're left with people who really want the job or just enjoy the challenges.
- lancebeet 9y ago
  But how long do you give them to finish this 2 hour task? Less than a week? Or is this a task you expect them to do during the interview? Some people are busy doing other things and may need a week to be able to find two hours of spare time.
  - tyleraldrich 9y ago
    If you're applying for a jobs you should probably make sure you have at least 2 hours of spare time to do an interview... Take home or not, it's an interview, and if you want the job you can find 2 hours - it's a completely reasonable amount of time for an interview to take.
- volkk 9y ago
  I feel like two hours for something like this is still too little if you want to actually see a ~relatively~ prod level app. The business logic is obviously straight forward, but starting a new app, adding unit/integration tests, (maybe proper logging), caching etc, and basically anything showing that you're a competent dev will easily eat up 5 hours of your time in my opinion. And if you don't expect anything close to a prod level system, then why ask to build a system like this in the first place as opposed to some basic domain logic functions vs a whole e2e system? Maybe I'm just a shitty/slow dev.
bousaid 9y ago
On the CEO’s LinkedIn page: A. Ullmann varies between an idealist and a fool. I guess he truly does fit that description.
- ishi 9y ago
  You left out the rest, which is even cringier: ...Andrew can literally always be found working or writing. By banging his head repeatedly against the walls that are un-transparent advertising and unsustainable food, he plans to topple them - no matter the ultimate concussive side effects. A steadfast optimist, Andrew believes that with a little luck he will change the world. "Fingers crossed," he says while looking defiantly into the distance.
  - samstave 9y ago
    Haha that’s hilarious. I suggest everyone apply for the internship from HN and send them all our resumes with all the mediocre things we have all helped build!
csmattryder 9y ago
They're asking an intern to build a competitor, when they themselves have as much traction as a tank in a swamp, and the product is an easily-built-with-React Instagram clone. I look forward to the inevitable Medium post when they fold next month.
- overcast 9y ago
  It's been an incredible journey though!
  - tresp 9y ago
    marco??
    - matthew349hall 9y ago
      Polo!
  - raverbashing 9y ago
    "We had difficulties sending our message across but we still believe in our mission"
ianai 9y ago
This sort of feels like an anecdotal example of a bubble. People are so sure of big payoffs that a company can run this sort of job ad and seem to be taken serious.
mv4 9y ago
Loved this little gem: "keeps us from hiring engineers that end up being toxic to our long term goals and just looking for a pay day"
- erklik 9y ago
  That's why I look for a job so I can then be paid and eat food using that money. Such clown asses.
  - mv4 9y ago
    You don't want to be a rockstar or a ninja?
    - astura 9y ago
      Pretty sure rockstars and ninjas still get paid. :)
      - djellybeans 9y ago
        Plus, ninjas DO work for selfish gain. As mercenaries, they only care about pay day in the end, and they're not loyal to a faction.
        mv4 9y ago
        Good point.
- djellybeans 9y ago
  Humans need not apply.
bcyn 9y ago
I spit out my drink at "our very complex tech stack."
- interdrift 9y ago
  Should be read with an epic music background
- mv4 9y ago
  Their management team is mostly non-technical. So it's plausible they are viewing their stack as incredibly complex.
- tresp 9y ago
  you can quickly find yourself inundated in a complex stack. managing complexity (making it simple) requires huge investment! complex stacks are worse
mv4 9y ago
According to Crunchbase, the CEO has a degree in Law/Business Economics. He probably felt this hiring approach was a) legal, and b) economical.
- astura 9y ago
  Interesting... it's actually listed as "Bachelor of Arts in Law, History, and Culture" Which sounds more like anthropology or something, USC defines as: >This major is designed for students drawn to interdisciplinary study of legal and cultural issues, as well as those who intend to pursue a law degree. It offers students an interdisciplinary education in legal institutions, languages and processes that are central to social, cultural and political developments in the past and present, and play a critical role in shaping our most basic concepts and categories of thought and identity. It combines approaches from history, literature, philosophy, political theory, religion and classical studies to explore the law's position at the nexus of society. The major will help students develop the critical skills of reading, writing and analysis crucial to both a liberal education and the study of law. Students will gain theoretical and analytical perspectives on ethical, political and social issues relevant to law as they explore specific legal issues from a humanistic perspective. And the requirements seem... um, not very comprehensive, to say the least... There's only nine classes required for a major! I just checked my college transcript, because I have it handy, and I required eight classes just for my minor. Is it actually common to have so few classes required for a major? He also has Bachelor of Arts in French Literature Minor in Business Economics
  - jldugger 9y ago
    BAs tend to be a bit more lightweight in terms of major requirements, and well, even among BAs I guess there's lighter and heavier major requirements.
    - astura 9y ago
      I think that's really unreasonably "lightweight" as far as calling it a "major," that's a minor level of education at the most. I really hope colleges aren't routinely giving out "bachelors" degrees for such a small amount of education.
fsociety 9y ago
I’m reminded of Donald Trump. “We have a complex tech stack, the most complex tech stack in the world. Tons of great people work here. The smartest people working on the most complex tech stack in the world. Lots of great code. The best code ever.” Some people are so dehumanizing when it comes to work and full of themselves.
- williamle8300 9y ago
  "I'm reminded of _______. [insert some words]." Woo-hoo! Daddy Soro's just got a new wrinkle under his eye!
- ochenvoysim 9y ago
  This was my exact impression as well. "you will also be working alongside one of the leading React developers in the world"..... Wow, wonder if he'll sign my laptop.
muzani 9y ago
Playing devil's advocate here, it's possible they think they're doing the intern a favor by teaching them, as opposed to an educational institution where they have to pay to learn. The intern is not expected to get work done.
- erklik 9y ago
  Yet the project they are asking to be developed is literally their core app. Its more like getting your own application rebuilt for free.
xwvvvvwx 9y ago
Bee is a photo sharing site that connects you with your favorite brands.You post photos to Bee and they're sent directly to the people who matter. You get nationwide exposure and photo credit as your shot is featured on everything from billboards to social media. How it works: 1) Share photos directly No more @-ing companies and hoping they see. With Bee, every photo is sent directly to our partner companies. Your photos, not your follower count, is what matters. Take your talent to the next level and get the nationwide exposure you deserve. 2) Bee yourself Bee lets you connect with your brand judgement free. No more worrying about spamming your friends feeds. With Bee, you can post what you want, when you want. This means more fame for you with none of the downsides. 3) Bee famous Bee is all about making you famous. We turn brands into your personal PR team. Companies agree to give you photo credit on everything from billboards to social media. You keep all the rights to your photos while the world’s biggest brands give you nationwide exposure. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bee-technologies-inc https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bee-technologies-inc I don't understand at all what they're trying to build. An easier way for people to let brands use their images for free?
- untog 9y ago
  > An easier way for people to let brands use their images for free? The hope is probably that they'll get freebies. Take a photo wearing this sweater, then keep it. That sort of thing. This confuses me though: Your photos, not your follower count, is what matters. The whole reason a brand is interested in you is because of your follower count, not because you're good looking (though I imagine that is also a requirement).
- cabalamat 9y ago
  AFAICT they want people to take photos for free and give them to advertisers to use. They expect their programmers to work for free too. Do I detect a pattern there?
  - 0xJRS 9y ago
    Soon they'll roll out a new tier, you pay them $10 per photo you take. New jobs will open up too, for the low price of $100/hr you can pay to work at a hot new start up.
samfisher83 9y ago
Here is the founding team from crunchbase: Erik Byargeon, Lucas McGartland, Lukas Huberman, Andrew Ullmann . Three of those guys are not technical. Erik Byargeon was an intern at Amazon. So I am not sure how you are going to mentored by top Amazon Engineers. It also doesn't look like their site has much traction so I don't know how the stock is worth anything. I guess you fake it until you make it.
- Tenobrus 9y ago
  The CTO's LinkedIn says he's still in undergrad. It seems like this is effectively a vanity startup and one of the founders has rich family members. Not rich enough, apparently.
- zbruhnke 9y ago
  I actually know some of the family members of one of the guys here - they are good people and he's got a brother that is also a known entity in the tech world - here's to hoping they can understand why this was a poor approach and learn from it. We've all been young and made mistakes - I know that does not make all of this OK but I also know I wouldn't want to have to live in infamy for everything I did when I was in college either
  - rajacombinator 9y ago
    There's mistakes and then there's premeditated immoral scamming. They'll learn - how to be more clever next time.
- jaymzcampbell 9y ago
  If I was Amazon LLC I'd sue for defamation.
- K0nserv 9y ago
  The CTOs Github[0] has a single public project which is a fork of someone doing their test. I was trying to find this world leading React developer and assumed it was the CTO. From their job ad[1] > As such, you will also be working alongside one of the leading React developers in the world who will assist you every step of the way. 0: https://github.com/ebyargeon https://github.com/ebyargeon 1: https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-front-end-engineer https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-fro...
ensiferum 9y ago
After 3 months of training and work.. " sorry but we don't really feel your a suitable match for our team" 3 months of work no pay thx and goodbye. I hope nobody falls for this trap !
otakucode 9y ago
It is illegal for unpaid interns to do ANY work, at ANY point, which provides value to your business. Interns need to know this. Employers need to know this as well, but they've proven that they can't be trusted a million times. 'Make game of that which makes as much of thee.' Employers are going to treat employees like a cost center to be reduced, a factor to be manipulated in order to optimize things, etc and the only way that can not end in tragedy is if everyone is aware and the employees play the employer just as much. This is what employers chose.
- aerovistae 9y ago
  this comment would carry a little more weight if you could cite the laws to which you refer
  - detaro 9y ago
    for the US: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf
    - segmondy 9y ago
      The employer that provides the training derives no IMMEDIATE advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded; Thus, an intern can do work that the company profits from, it just doesn't need to be immediate.
      - forgottenpass 9y ago
        Yes, but in context that clause seems more aimed towards an intern being accidentally useful, not picking up tasks with a deadline more than X months out. Having something done now that will start being useful later on still has arguable immediate value from the perspectives of scheduling and investing in the future of the company.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
jlebrech 9y ago
the best you can do is make a crappy app, and if they still hire you just no show. eventually they'll go out of business.
- s73ver_ 9y ago
  Wouldn't the best you could do be to just walk away, and not bother with them?
  - jlebrech 9y ago
    If their test is challenging enough and interesting, just mash a project together for fun and submit it.
jlebrech 9y ago
I used find "jobs" like that freelancer.com, you don't work for those kind of people you just steal their idea and do it for yourself.
- erklik 9y ago
  His "idea" is some utter bullshit though. Either they are very very naive or just fools. I am veering towards fools.
  - jlebrech 9y ago
    it's just instagram but worse
- solotronics 9y ago
  hah!
eire1130 9y ago
* Unclear business model * "Complex tech stack" for a photo sharing site * Building a product against something that has been tried many times, and failed each time (crowdsourced brand identity) * Unpaid "internships" studying under other junior developers * Probably solving for a problem that doesn't exist (see point 3 above) Man, where do I sign up!
- mv4 9y ago
  I am surprised they aren't doing an ICO.
  - RepressedEmu 9y ago
    Oh boy, don't give them any ideas.
    - mv4 9y ago
      You're right. They will start paying devs with tokens.
abandonliberty 9y ago
Meanwhile I get bothered by some of the free work companies ask for in the interview process.
baron816 9y ago
This looks bad, but I've been through worse. After a long, drawn out interview process, which involved a group interview where four candidates were in the same room competitively trying to answer random questions about JavaScript edge cases, I received an offer. $23k/year in NYC, no equity, and a 1% share of profits. I would've been pretty much the only engineer, so it's not like I would've gotten any training or support. They also never told me what the product was. I had to go find a notary to sign an NDA, but I tore that up when I got the offer. I'm pretty sure the company never went anywhere.
- mv4 9y ago
  That's messed up.
- djellybeans 9y ago
  They don't sound like great entrepreneurs just because they don't want to tell you what the product is about before signing the NDA. Telling people about your product is what gets people excited. All these experiences make me curious as to where the salary floors lie for programmers, city-by-city. And excluding unpaid work, like the internship discussed here.
mythrwy 9y ago
LOL. I'd ask they pay me for 3 months while I did no work just to make sure you know... that they are solvent and going to be around. After all it's best to avoid companies toxic to ones long term goals that only care about how much work one produces.
apetresc 9y ago
Is there a single interview method on Earth that will satisfy HN? These are all arguments I've heard in the last few weeks on here: - Whiteboard coding is too far removed from "real work", not effective at testing general aptitude, and is demeaning. - Asking to see side projects presupposes an unhealthy amount of focus on work, discriminates against people with lives, and is demeaning. - Asking for a custom piece of real-world code that matches the company's actual stack is exploitative, should be illegal, and is demeaning. - Basing everything on answers to 'soft' questions about previous experience discriminates against people who aren't interested in showmanship, leads to too many suits and bros, and is demeaning. What on Earth should we be doing, then? Everyone on Hacker News is so enlightened and skilled at their job, that any form of verification is demeaning and beneath their dignity. Apparently I should make my hiring decision based on their comment history or something.
- imgabe 9y ago
  Whatever it is, I think we can all agree that "Work unpaid for 3 months and then maybe have a job" is so far from the mark as to be laughable. This is not HN being picky about interviews. This is a delusional company making absurd demands for which they are rightly being mocked.
- grzm 9y ago
  > ”Is there a single interview method on Earth that will satisfy HN?” The simple answer is “no”. The HN community is not a monolithic block. You might as well ask if there’s one that would satisfy everyone. The key is to find one that works effectively for your organization.
- ohthehugemanate 9y ago
  I mean, I agree that HN find's it much easier to shit on interview methods than come up with something reasonable... But read the post. They're asking him to build a complete application, front and back, that does just what their app is supposed to do... Before he gets a phone interview. And then they offer 3 months uncompensated "onboarding" before ever paying for work. There's bad interview practices, and then there's abuse.
codingdave 9y ago
Even if this was a fairly paid gig, I'd be out of there the second someone holds complexity up as a good thing. Doing more with a simpler stack has always been my goal. After all, I'm not trying to impress people with how complicated of a system I can design... I'm trying to deliver a product, simply and effectively.
- tdb7893 9y ago
  But how do you pad your resume with a simple stack?!
joeblau 9y ago
I had to do this for my current job. For me it the task was about 4 hours of work and not a big deal. The main caveat is that I was also in the process of my current work project being discontinued. That means I had 4 months to basically do whatever I want while still collecting my salary so spec work wasn't a problem for me. If you have a job, family and other obligations outside of work, completing a project like this is extremely challenging.
publicfig 9y ago
Looks like they just took down their Facebook page due to negative reviews (as I was viewing it, interestingly enough). Curious to see how they attempt damage control. https://www.facebook.com/thebeeinc/ https://www.facebook.com/thebeeinc/
- K0nserv 9y ago
  They also took down their job postings on angle.co. https://imgur.com/a/CDxDb https://imgur.com/a/CDxDb
asmdev 9y ago
I had a similar experience with a company in Bangalore.[1] I wish there were a law to prevent such exploitative hiring practices. [1]: https://github.com/surya-soft/Interview/issues/2 https://github.com/surya-soft/Interview/issues/2
- jonandersense 9y ago
  What's "exploitative" about this? It's a simple coding project that would just takes a few hours.
  - asmdev 9y ago
    You're okay doing a coding project for a few hours? Good for you! I like to get paid by the hour.
    - jonandersense 9y ago
      I think for an interview, it's a reasonable alternative instead of doing an 1-2h long coding interview. You have to interview people in some way, and a small coding project that you can discuss and talk about has been a nice experience for me. How do you want an interview to be conducted?
      - asmdev 9y ago
        In that case, we agree. I too believe that a 1 hour coding interview is reasonable although I am not too sure if it is ethical to do so without paying. But if it is a 4 hour coding interview without pay, I am certain that it is unethical. Since you asked for alternatives, here are some suggestions I have: - If you want to do a 4 hour coding round even before a phone interview, at least pay for your candidate's time and effort. - Otherwise, restrict your coding round to 1 hour. I think this strikes the right balance between lack of pay and my time spent.
  - s73ver_ 9y ago
    The "work" for "no pay" part. That's always exploitation, no matter how you try and justify it.
basseq 9y ago
This position is paid after a 3 month training. This attitude—along with unpaid internships, expectations of "side projects", international experience, etc.—perpetuates a lack of diversity, particularly in under-represented minorities. They're basically saying, "Unless you come from money and can eat 3 months salary, we don't want you." It's pay-to-play in the worst way. Not to mention that no self-respecting person would work in an environment that toxic.
txmjs 9y ago
I think this says it all (from the employer's website)... <meta name="keywords" content="Instafamous, Contacting brands, sharing, posting, get famous, make money, exposure, more followers">
- hanspeter 9y ago
  Are we sure this entire company is not satire?
tn_ 9y ago
Someone should build the anti-linkedin. You know where the co-founders of this company would be added to that list.. and populates any relevant articles on why they're not good people to work with.
- p0nce 9y ago
  GlassDoor can serve that goal
mzzter 9y ago
To me, as a software engineering student, the take home brief seems like a reasonable one? It’s the uncompensated three month onboarding and training that sticks out to me. I wonder if school credit could be negotiated for that.
- erklik 9y ago
  Why? You are basically being asked to rebuild a competitor application for them for free. > It’s the uncompensated three month onboarding and training that sticks out to me. This part is just cherry on top in all honesty. Its insane.
- markha 9y ago
  > I wonder if school credit could be negotiated for that. Bingo. Unpaid internship for a USC student will put you in $1800 debt (1credit == ~$1800)
brutus1213 9y ago
Are there no laws against this stuff?
- astura 9y ago
  There are indeed laws against this stuff.
eclipxe 9y ago
https://blog.beeaweso.me/what-it-means-to-bee-532968d91764 https://blog.beeaweso.me/what-it-means-to-bee-532968d91764
- jaymzcampbell 9y ago
  > "Our mission is to create justice in an unjust world." That whole page is cringeworthy hyperbole but in the context of what has blown them up on HN this is just hilarious now.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
johnnyRose 9y ago
This type of thing is a big reason why young companies with young co-founders have such a bad rap.
pgsg30 9y ago
They want work with me ???
ixby96 9y ago
"Erik the Greater, built the back end. He conquered the Django in a single weekend." From their blog: https://blog.beeaweso.me/to-bee-or-not-76f9b0f8b84f https://blog.beeaweso.me/to-bee-or-not-76f9b0f8b84f
- stefantheard 9y ago
  The amount of cringe is literally unfathomable. Django huh, what happened to the super complex tech stack? This company is a joke.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Nelkins 9y ago
You know, this is pretty bad, but I'm also a little put off by the mob mentality that I'm seeing (mostly in the Reddit comments). Following the link in the original post, I see that their entire executive team is between 20 and 22 years old. What they did is definitely crummy and shady, but I also wonder about the harassment that they're likely to be subjected to shortly. Will their names forever be associated with this? Do they "deserve" it? Who knows...I just hold some faint hope that if anyone chooses to reach out to Bee they'll take their level of maturity into context and make this a teachable moment.
rkho 9y ago
I've always considered it a red flag when a "startup" seems to have no other employees, no product, but somehow enough time to play company by giving four C-level titles away.
rajacombinator 9y ago
I've spoken with seemingly well connected and funded early stage startups that have asked for the same. (Of course I passed.) This kind of thing is not that uncommon sadly.
aldof 9y ago
Their website: http://bee-usa.co/ http://bee-usa.co/ https://i.imgur.com/4q18GfX.png https://i.imgur.com/4q18GfX.png
- wmblaettler 9y ago
  Actually, I'm pretty sure this is it: https://www.thebeeinc.com/ https://www.thebeeinc.com/
oblib 9y ago
I have been given quite a few of these kinds of opportunities over the years. Nice to see this one called out so well and get such a great response.
pcglue 9y ago
These guys are being roasted, and rightly so. But let's also cut them some slack. Lord knows what kind of trouble I would have gotten into if the Internet had been around in its present form when I was in high school/college. So there was no Internet or WWW when I was young. Instead, when I was 14 or 15, I was into the BBS scene. I found a file manager utility I liked that was shareware. Being dumb and young, I took a hex editor to the executable and modified the name/address of the author to my own, and re-uploaded the utility, hoping people would send money to me instead. Nothing good or bad came out of that, but I can imagine doing the equivalent these days would land me in hot water.
dramm 9y ago
The exploitive behavior here is sickening and deserved to be called out. As a marketing person it's also amusing that they claim to want to connect images for brands yet they use company logos apparently without permission all over their web site. The sort of thing likely to irritate the very people in those companies they want as customers. e.g. https://www.thebeeinc.com/all-pages https://www.thebeeinc.com/all-pages
rdiddly 9y ago
On the plus side, at the end of that unpaid 3 months, you'll have the ability to work "anywhere in the world." Hey wait a minute, don't I have that now?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

625 points by erklik 9y ago

a13n 9y ago

Yikes, the nerve. For a really junior applicant, getting a startup internship on your resume can be a big deal for your career. You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers. But realistically, I don't think the company would get much from an intern at this level. If they want the intern to build the app, then they better be good enough to demand payment. Doesn't seem like the company will be successful with this approach.

GCU-Empiricist 9y ago
Any ex-amazon Engineer who is too poor of a leader to see the basic logistic problem with a 3 month unpaid training is probably going to cause the toxic culture they are seeking to avoid.
bspn 9y ago
> You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers Reading the thread, it appears they were at most SWE interns at Amazon so the learning opportunities would be minimal I imagine. This feels all sorts of icky and the poster did the right thing by just walking away IMO.
- mijoharas 9y ago
  > ...SWE interns at Amazon... I'm confused by this, when I was at amazon I was not aware of the role of SWE, (can someone tell me what it stands for?). We were SDE's, which was Software Development Engineer, and SDETs: Software Development Engineer Testing, and others, any idea what it is?
  - lightbyte 9y ago
    SWE is SoftWare Engineer. It's the same thing you know as SDE.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
adamnemecek 9y ago
> You'd also learn a lot from ex-Amazon engineers. You are really overestimating the skills of an Amazon engineer. Or just working at Google/Microsoft/Facebook doesn’t say all that much about your skills.
- 8ytecoder 9y ago
  Worse, the CTO was only an intern.
jkingsbery 9y ago
Just throwing this out there: you can learn a lot by working with current Amazon engineers, and having Amazon on your resume can be a big deal for your career. We train you on our stack, and as complex as it might be it will take less than 3 months. https://us-amazon.icims.com/jobs/473568/sde-intern/job?mobile=false&width=1245&height=1200&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240 https://us-amazon.icims.com/jobs/473568/sde-intern/job?mobil...
- a13n 9y ago
  And they pay you too!
bm1362 9y ago
Yup, having an internship opens so many doors and if you're not going to a top school you hardly get a response from Google/Amazon/Facebook etc. I'd also bet that anyone who can build a Django photo sharing app with auth has a much better skillset than what I'd expect from a first-year intern. Intern's at Amazon, etc, tend to be pursuing a Masters and usually have some experience. One intern project was adding Jepsen testing to a distributed database, for example.

cure 9y ago

Ah, the startup is a photo sharing site. Of course. That explains the "very complex tech stack" that requires a 3 month unpaid stint before you can even get hired.

jenskanis 9y ago
Looking at their vacancies, getting hired equals an unpaid position with 2-5% equity. Maybe the landlord and local supermarket accepts equity with a 4-year vesting scheme.
- fapjacks 9y ago
  Well, if your mom or dad pays your rent and groceries like these guys, no salary and 2-5% is totally realistic, I guess?

holtalanm 9y ago

'This position is paid after a 3 month training. This is non-negotiable and keeps us from hiring engineers that end up being toxic to our long term goals and just looking for a pay day' What the hell? That is the whole _point_ of a job. You know...to get paid for it. Like, what do they expect their employees to do for three months while they're not getting paid? Live in a cardboard box down by the river? I mean, I get it. It is probably just a scam to get people to work for free, but regardless, that policy is absolutely idiotic.

jaymzcampbell 9y ago
When I read that I was fuming on behalf of all the interns that have to put up with this sort of crap. It's disgusting. The original poster has named the company as "Bee Technologies Inc" [1]. They're also advertising for a "Junior Front End Engineer" for no salary and 2-5% equity. They seem to think they are doing the world a favour. Arrogance in the highest. [2] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/78rhz7/this_startup_asked_me_to_do_a_project_for_an/dowook9/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/78rhz7/t... [2] https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-front-end-engineer https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-fro...
- holtalanm 9y ago
  _holy shit_ Yeah, this company is the absolute worst. I would also bet that the engineer would get fired before ever being able to cash out on that equity.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- onychomys 9y ago
  I wonder what they expect the dev to eat while he's working for them. Do they have free cookies every day in the office? The dev had better hope so! Oh, or there's calories in regular Coke, so as long as the guy doesn't prefer diet, maybe he can subsist on that!

mattgibson 9y ago

A week?? Our interview code test is to make a URL shortener (two endpoints: create and redirect, use any tech you like). I'd never expect more than 2 hours max to be spent on it. If you can't work out whether you want to employ someone based on that (and discussion of it with the candidate) then you're probably not worth working for.

muzani 9y ago
Also the really smart people tend to have a lot of choices. Anything too tedious actually puts off the people who have a lot of choices, so you're left with people who really want the job or just enjoy the challenges.
lancebeet 9y ago
But how long do you give them to finish this 2 hour task? Less than a week? Or is this a task you expect them to do during the interview? Some people are busy doing other things and may need a week to be able to find two hours of spare time.
- tyleraldrich 9y ago
  If you're applying for a jobs you should probably make sure you have at least 2 hours of spare time to do an interview... Take home or not, it's an interview, and if you want the job you can find 2 hours - it's a completely reasonable amount of time for an interview to take.
volkk 9y ago
I feel like two hours for something like this is still too little if you want to actually see a ~relatively~ prod level app. The business logic is obviously straight forward, but starting a new app, adding unit/integration tests, (maybe proper logging), caching etc, and basically anything showing that you're a competent dev will easily eat up 5 hours of your time in my opinion. And if you don't expect anything close to a prod level system, then why ask to build a system like this in the first place as opposed to some basic domain logic functions vs a whole e2e system? Maybe I'm just a shitty/slow dev.

bousaid 9y ago

On the CEO’s LinkedIn page: A. Ullmann varies between an idealist and a fool. I guess he truly does fit that description.

ishi 9y ago
You left out the rest, which is even cringier: ...Andrew can literally always be found working or writing. By banging his head repeatedly against the walls that are un-transparent advertising and unsustainable food, he plans to topple them - no matter the ultimate concussive side effects. A steadfast optimist, Andrew believes that with a little luck he will change the world. "Fingers crossed," he says while looking defiantly into the distance.
- samstave 9y ago
  Haha that’s hilarious. I suggest everyone apply for the internship from HN and send them all our resumes with all the mediocre things we have all helped build!

csmattryder 9y ago

They're asking an intern to build a competitor, when they themselves have as much traction as a tank in a swamp, and the product is an easily-built-with-React Instagram clone. I look forward to the inevitable Medium post when they fold next month.

overcast 9y ago
It's been an incredible journey though!
- tresp 9y ago
  marco??
  - matthew349hall 9y ago
    Polo!
- raverbashing 9y ago
  "We had difficulties sending our message across but we still believe in our mission"

ianai 9y ago

This sort of feels like an anecdotal example of a bubble. People are so sure of big payoffs that a company can run this sort of job ad and seem to be taken serious.

mv4 9y ago

Loved this little gem: "keeps us from hiring engineers that end up being toxic to our long term goals and just looking for a pay day"

erklik 9y ago
That's why I look for a job so I can then be paid and eat food using that money. Such clown asses.
- mv4 9y ago
  You don't want to be a rockstar or a ninja?
  - astura 9y ago
    Pretty sure rockstars and ninjas still get paid. :)
    - djellybeans 9y ago
      Plus, ninjas DO work for selfish gain. As mercenaries, they only care about pay day in the end, and they're not loyal to a faction.
      - mv4 9y ago
        Good point.
djellybeans 9y ago
Humans need not apply.

bcyn 9y ago

I spit out my drink at "our very complex tech stack."

interdrift 9y ago
Should be read with an epic music background
mv4 9y ago
Their management team is mostly non-technical. So it's plausible they are viewing their stack as incredibly complex.
tresp 9y ago
you can quickly find yourself inundated in a complex stack. managing complexity (making it simple) requires huge investment! complex stacks are worse

mv4 9y ago

According to Crunchbase, the CEO has a degree in Law/Business Economics. He probably felt this hiring approach was a) legal, and b) economical.

astura 9y ago
Interesting... it's actually listed as "Bachelor of Arts in Law, History, and Culture" Which sounds more like anthropology or something, USC defines as: >This major is designed for students drawn to interdisciplinary study of legal and cultural issues, as well as those who intend to pursue a law degree. It offers students an interdisciplinary education in legal institutions, languages and processes that are central to social, cultural and political developments in the past and present, and play a critical role in shaping our most basic concepts and categories of thought and identity. It combines approaches from history, literature, philosophy, political theory, religion and classical studies to explore the law's position at the nexus of society. The major will help students develop the critical skills of reading, writing and analysis crucial to both a liberal education and the study of law. Students will gain theoretical and analytical perspectives on ethical, political and social issues relevant to law as they explore specific legal issues from a humanistic perspective. And the requirements seem... um, not very comprehensive, to say the least... There's only nine classes required for a major! I just checked my college transcript, because I have it handy, and I required eight classes just for my minor. Is it actually common to have so few classes required for a major? He also has Bachelor of Arts in French Literature Minor in Business Economics
- jldugger 9y ago
  BAs tend to be a bit more lightweight in terms of major requirements, and well, even among BAs I guess there's lighter and heavier major requirements.
  - astura 9y ago
    I think that's really unreasonably "lightweight" as far as calling it a "major," that's a minor level of education at the most. I really hope colleges aren't routinely giving out "bachelors" degrees for such a small amount of education.

fsociety 9y ago

I’m reminded of Donald Trump. “We have a complex tech stack, the most complex tech stack in the world. Tons of great people work here. The smartest people working on the most complex tech stack in the world. Lots of great code. The best code ever.” Some people are so dehumanizing when it comes to work and full of themselves.

williamle8300 9y ago
"I'm reminded of _______. [insert some words]." Woo-hoo! Daddy Soro's just got a new wrinkle under his eye!
ochenvoysim 9y ago
This was my exact impression as well. "you will also be working alongside one of the leading React developers in the world"..... Wow, wonder if he'll sign my laptop.

muzani 9y ago

Playing devil's advocate here, it's possible they think they're doing the intern a favor by teaching them, as opposed to an educational institution where they have to pay to learn. The intern is not expected to get work done.

erklik 9y ago
Yet the project they are asking to be developed is literally their core app. Its more like getting your own application rebuilt for free.

xwvvvvwx 9y ago

Bee is a photo sharing site that connects you with your favorite brands.You post photos to Bee and they're sent directly to the people who matter. You get nationwide exposure and photo credit as your shot is featured on everything from billboards to social media. How it works: 1) Share photos directly No more @-ing companies and hoping they see. With Bee, every photo is sent directly to our partner companies. Your photos, not your follower count, is what matters. Take your talent to the next level and get the nationwide exposure you deserve. 2) Bee yourself Bee lets you connect with your brand judgement free. No more worrying about spamming your friends feeds. With Bee, you can post what you want, when you want. This means more fame for you with none of the downsides. 3) Bee famous Bee is all about making you famous. We turn brands into your personal PR team. Companies agree to give you photo credit on everything from billboards to social media. You keep all the rights to your photos while the world’s biggest brands give you nationwide exposure. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bee-technologies-inc https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bee-technologies-inc I don't understand at all what they're trying to build. An easier way for people to let brands use their images for free?

untog 9y ago
> An easier way for people to let brands use their images for free? The hope is probably that they'll get freebies. Take a photo wearing this sweater, then keep it. That sort of thing. This confuses me though: Your photos, not your follower count, is what matters. The whole reason a brand is interested in you is because of your follower count, not because you're good looking (though I imagine that is also a requirement).
cabalamat 9y ago
AFAICT they want people to take photos for free and give them to advertisers to use. They expect their programmers to work for free too. Do I detect a pattern there?
- 0xJRS 9y ago
  Soon they'll roll out a new tier, you pay them $10 per photo you take. New jobs will open up too, for the low price of $100/hr you can pay to work at a hot new start up.

samfisher83 9y ago

Here is the founding team from crunchbase: Erik Byargeon, Lucas McGartland, Lukas Huberman, Andrew Ullmann . Three of those guys are not technical. Erik Byargeon was an intern at Amazon. So I am not sure how you are going to mentored by top Amazon Engineers. It also doesn't look like their site has much traction so I don't know how the stock is worth anything. I guess you fake it until you make it.

Tenobrus 9y ago
The CTO's LinkedIn says he's still in undergrad. It seems like this is effectively a vanity startup and one of the founders has rich family members. Not rich enough, apparently.
zbruhnke 9y ago
I actually know some of the family members of one of the guys here - they are good people and he's got a brother that is also a known entity in the tech world - here's to hoping they can understand why this was a poor approach and learn from it. We've all been young and made mistakes - I know that does not make all of this OK but I also know I wouldn't want to have to live in infamy for everything I did when I was in college either
- rajacombinator 9y ago
  There's mistakes and then there's premeditated immoral scamming. They'll learn - how to be more clever next time.
jaymzcampbell 9y ago
If I was Amazon LLC I'd sue for defamation.
K0nserv 9y ago
The CTOs Github[0] has a single public project which is a fork of someone doing their test. I was trying to find this world leading React developer and assumed it was the CTO. From their job ad[1] > As such, you will also be working alongside one of the leading React developers in the world who will assist you every step of the way. 0: https://github.com/ebyargeon https://github.com/ebyargeon 1: https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-front-end-engineer https://angel.co/bee-technologies-inc/jobs/275465-junior-fro...

ensiferum 9y ago

After 3 months of training and work.. " sorry but we don't really feel your a suitable match for our team" 3 months of work no pay thx and goodbye. I hope nobody falls for this trap !

otakucode 9y ago

It is illegal for unpaid interns to do ANY work, at ANY point, which provides value to your business. Interns need to know this. Employers need to know this as well, but they've proven that they can't be trusted a million times. 'Make game of that which makes as much of thee.' Employers are going to treat employees like a cost center to be reduced, a factor to be manipulated in order to optimize things, etc and the only way that can not end in tragedy is if everyone is aware and the employees play the employer just as much. This is what employers chose.

aerovistae 9y ago
this comment would carry a little more weight if you could cite the laws to which you refer
- detaro 9y ago
  for the US: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf
  - segmondy 9y ago
    The employer that provides the training derives no IMMEDIATE advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded; Thus, an intern can do work that the company profits from, it just doesn't need to be immediate.
    - forgottenpass 9y ago
      Yes, but in context that clause seems more aimed towards an intern being accidentally useful, not picking up tasks with a deadline more than X months out. Having something done now that will start being useful later on still has arguable immediate value from the perspectives of scheduling and investing in the future of the company.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]

jlebrech 9y ago

the best you can do is make a crappy app, and if they still hire you just no show. eventually they'll go out of business.

s73ver_ 9y ago
Wouldn't the best you could do be to just walk away, and not bother with them?
- jlebrech 9y ago
  If their test is challenging enough and interesting, just mash a project together for fun and submit it.

jlebrech 9y ago

I used find "jobs" like that freelancer.com, you don't work for those kind of people you just steal their idea and do it for yourself.

erklik 9y ago
His "idea" is some utter bullshit though. Either they are very very naive or just fools. I am veering towards fools.
- jlebrech 9y ago
  it's just instagram but worse
solotronics 9y ago
hah!

eire1130 9y ago

* Unclear business model * "Complex tech stack" for a photo sharing site * Building a product against something that has been tried many times, and failed each time (crowdsourced brand identity) * Unpaid "internships" studying under other junior developers * Probably solving for a problem that doesn't exist (see point 3 above) Man, where do I sign up!

mv4 9y ago
I am surprised they aren't doing an ICO.
- RepressedEmu 9y ago
  Oh boy, don't give them any ideas.
  - mv4 9y ago
    You're right. They will start paying devs with tokens.

abandonliberty 9y ago

Meanwhile I get bothered by some of the free work companies ask for in the interview process.

baron816 9y ago

This looks bad, but I've been through worse. After a long, drawn out interview process, which involved a group interview where four candidates were in the same room competitively trying to answer random questions about JavaScript edge cases, I received an offer. $23k/year in NYC, no equity, and a 1% share of profits. I would've been pretty much the only engineer, so it's not like I would've gotten any training or support. They also never told me what the product was. I had to go find a notary to sign an NDA, but I tore that up when I got the offer. I'm pretty sure the company never went anywhere.

mv4 9y ago
That's messed up.
djellybeans 9y ago
They don't sound like great entrepreneurs just because they don't want to tell you what the product is about before signing the NDA. Telling people about your product is what gets people excited. All these experiences make me curious as to where the salary floors lie for programmers, city-by-city. And excluding unpaid work, like the internship discussed here.

mythrwy 9y ago

LOL. I'd ask they pay me for 3 months while I did no work just to make sure you know... that they are solvent and going to be around. After all it's best to avoid companies toxic to ones long term goals that only care about how much work one produces.

apetresc 9y ago

Is there a single interview method on Earth that will satisfy HN? These are all arguments I've heard in the last few weeks on here: - Whiteboard coding is too far removed from "real work", not effective at testing general aptitude, and is demeaning. - Asking to see side projects presupposes an unhealthy amount of focus on work, discriminates against people with lives, and is demeaning. - Asking for a custom piece of real-world code that matches the company's actual stack is exploitative, should be illegal, and is demeaning. - Basing everything on answers to 'soft' questions about previous experience discriminates against people who aren't interested in showmanship, leads to too many suits and bros, and is demeaning. What on Earth should we be doing, then? Everyone on Hacker News is so enlightened and skilled at their job, that any form of verification is demeaning and beneath their dignity. Apparently I should make my hiring decision based on their comment history or something.

imgabe 9y ago
Whatever it is, I think we can all agree that "Work unpaid for 3 months and then maybe have a job" is so far from the mark as to be laughable. This is not HN being picky about interviews. This is a delusional company making absurd demands for which they are rightly being mocked.
grzm 9y ago
> ”Is there a single interview method on Earth that will satisfy HN?” The simple answer is “no”. The HN community is not a monolithic block. You might as well ask if there’s one that would satisfy everyone. The key is to find one that works effectively for your organization.
ohthehugemanate 9y ago
I mean, I agree that HN find's it much easier to shit on interview methods than come up with something reasonable... But read the post. They're asking him to build a complete application, front and back, that does just what their app is supposed to do... Before he gets a phone interview. And then they offer 3 months uncompensated "onboarding" before ever paying for work. There's bad interview practices, and then there's abuse.

codingdave 9y ago

Even if this was a fairly paid gig, I'd be out of there the second someone holds complexity up as a good thing. Doing more with a simpler stack has always been my goal. After all, I'm not trying to impress people with how complicated of a system I can design... I'm trying to deliver a product, simply and effectively.

tdb7893 9y ago
But how do you pad your resume with a simple stack?!

joeblau 9y ago

I had to do this for my current job. For me it the task was about 4 hours of work and not a big deal. The main caveat is that I was also in the process of my current work project being discontinued. That means I had 4 months to basically do whatever I want while still collecting my salary so spec work wasn't a problem for me. If you have a job, family and other obligations outside of work, completing a project like this is extremely challenging.

publicfig 9y ago

Looks like they just took down their Facebook page due to negative reviews (as I was viewing it, interestingly enough). Curious to see how they attempt damage control. https://www.facebook.com/thebeeinc/ https://www.facebook.com/thebeeinc/

K0nserv 9y ago
They also took down their job postings on angle.co. https://imgur.com/a/CDxDb https://imgur.com/a/CDxDb

asmdev 9y ago

I had a similar experience with a company in Bangalore.[1] I wish there were a law to prevent such exploitative hiring practices. [1]: https://github.com/surya-soft/Interview/issues/2 https://github.com/surya-soft/Interview/issues/2

jonandersense 9y ago
What's "exploitative" about this? It's a simple coding project that would just takes a few hours.
- asmdev 9y ago
  You're okay doing a coding project for a few hours? Good for you! I like to get paid by the hour.
  - jonandersense 9y ago
    I think for an interview, it's a reasonable alternative instead of doing an 1-2h long coding interview. You have to interview people in some way, and a small coding project that you can discuss and talk about has been a nice experience for me. How do you want an interview to be conducted?
    - asmdev 9y ago
      In that case, we agree. I too believe that a 1 hour coding interview is reasonable although I am not too sure if it is ethical to do so without paying. But if it is a 4 hour coding interview without pay, I am certain that it is unethical. Since you asked for alternatives, here are some suggestions I have: - If you want to do a 4 hour coding round even before a phone interview, at least pay for your candidate's time and effort. - Otherwise, restrict your coding round to 1 hour. I think this strikes the right balance between lack of pay and my time spent.
- s73ver_ 9y ago
  The "work" for "no pay" part. That's always exploitation, no matter how you try and justify it.

basseq 9y ago

This position is paid after a 3 month training. This attitude—along with unpaid internships, expectations of "side projects", international experience, etc.—perpetuates a lack of diversity, particularly in under-represented minorities. They're basically saying, "Unless you come from money and can eat 3 months salary, we don't want you." It's pay-to-play in the worst way. Not to mention that no self-respecting person would work in an environment that toxic.

txmjs 9y ago

I think this says it all (from the employer's website)... <meta name="keywords" content="Instafamous, Contacting brands, sharing, posting, get famous, make money, exposure, more followers">

hanspeter 9y ago
Are we sure this entire company is not satire?

tn_ 9y ago

Someone should build the anti-linkedin. You know where the co-founders of this company would be added to that list.. and populates any relevant articles on why they're not good people to work with.

p0nce 9y ago
GlassDoor can serve that goal

mzzter 9y ago

To me, as a software engineering student, the take home brief seems like a reasonable one? It’s the uncompensated three month onboarding and training that sticks out to me. I wonder if school credit could be negotiated for that.

erklik 9y ago
Why? You are basically being asked to rebuild a competitor application for them for free. > It’s the uncompensated three month onboarding and training that sticks out to me. This part is just cherry on top in all honesty. Its insane.
markha 9y ago
> I wonder if school credit could be negotiated for that. Bingo. Unpaid internship for a USC student will put you in $1800 debt (1credit == ~$1800)

brutus1213 9y ago

Are there no laws against this stuff?

astura 9y ago
There are indeed laws against this stuff.

eclipxe 9y ago

https://blog.beeaweso.me/what-it-means-to-bee-532968d91764 https://blog.beeaweso.me/what-it-means-to-bee-532968d91764

jaymzcampbell 9y ago
> "Our mission is to create justice in an unjust world." That whole page is cringeworthy hyperbole but in the context of what has blown them up on HN this is just hilarious now.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

johnnyRose 9y ago

This type of thing is a big reason why young companies with young co-founders have such a bad rap.

pgsg30 9y ago

They want work with me ???

ixby96 9y ago

"Erik the Greater, built the back end. He conquered the Django in a single weekend." From their blog: https://blog.beeaweso.me/to-bee-or-not-76f9b0f8b84f https://blog.beeaweso.me/to-bee-or-not-76f9b0f8b84f

stefantheard 9y ago
The amount of cringe is literally unfathomable. Django huh, what happened to the super complex tech stack? This company is a joke.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Nelkins 9y ago

You know, this is pretty bad, but I'm also a little put off by the mob mentality that I'm seeing (mostly in the Reddit comments). Following the link in the original post, I see that their entire executive team is between 20 and 22 years old. What they did is definitely crummy and shady, but I also wonder about the harassment that they're likely to be subjected to shortly. Will their names forever be associated with this? Do they "deserve" it? Who knows...I just hold some faint hope that if anyone chooses to reach out to Bee they'll take their level of maturity into context and make this a teachable moment.

rkho 9y ago

I've always considered it a red flag when a "startup" seems to have no other employees, no product, but somehow enough time to play company by giving four C-level titles away.

rajacombinator 9y ago

I've spoken with seemingly well connected and funded early stage startups that have asked for the same. (Of course I passed.) This kind of thing is not that uncommon sadly.

aldof 9y ago

Their website: http://bee-usa.co/ http://bee-usa.co/ https://i.imgur.com/4q18GfX.png https://i.imgur.com/4q18GfX.png

wmblaettler 9y ago
Actually, I'm pretty sure this is it: https://www.thebeeinc.com/ https://www.thebeeinc.com/

oblib 9y ago

I have been given quite a few of these kinds of opportunities over the years. Nice to see this one called out so well and get such a great response.

pcglue 9y ago

These guys are being roasted, and rightly so. But let's also cut them some slack. Lord knows what kind of trouble I would have gotten into if the Internet had been around in its present form when I was in high school/college. So there was no Internet or WWW when I was young. Instead, when I was 14 or 15, I was into the BBS scene. I found a file manager utility I liked that was shareware. Being dumb and young, I took a hex editor to the executable and modified the name/address of the author to my own, and re-uploaded the utility, hoping people would send money to me instead. Nothing good or bad came out of that, but I can imagine doing the equivalent these days would land me in hot water.

dramm 9y ago

The exploitive behavior here is sickening and deserved to be called out. As a marketing person it's also amusing that they claim to want to connect images for brands yet they use company logos apparently without permission all over their web site. The sort of thing likely to irritate the very people in those companies they want as customers. e.g. https://www.thebeeinc.com/all-pages https://www.thebeeinc.com/all-pages

rdiddly 9y ago

On the plus side, at the end of that unpaid 3 months, you'll have the ability to work "anywhere in the world." Hey wait a minute, don't I have that now?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]