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Ask HN: Semantically stubborn with borderline fanaticism. But who?

4 points by jjoe 16y ago

Hello, I've been in the Web hosting industry for several years and am making an OK living from my business. Recently, I've decided to invest some hard-earned money in building a cloud-based service to expand the product line but also to hedge against the hosting trends. While scouring the Web for smart folks that could be a good fit for the project, I'm appalled at the stubbornness that's plaguing these people. Almost all are mentally fixated on X software or Y development method and none are considering the business side of things: hitting deadlines, semantics must not get in the way of building the product, customers must get what they want (reasonably), use Z because it makes sense even though you've poured your heart&soul in X over the last few years. This is worrying because I don't want this stubbornness to affect the direction of the project and the product. I think I'm giving a good incentive to join the venture (pay+ownership). This is such a turnoff for me that I find it wasteful to strike some of these skilled folks off the short list. What to do? Regards Joe

swombat 16y ago
The main reason for what you've observed is that those smart folks that could be a good fit for the project probably are a good fit for many other projects, including many which use the technology they do like. Good tech people generally have an opinion about technology (duh), so they like some technologies and dislike others. If I can make $X from working with PHP or make $X from working with Rails, why should I work with PHP when I dislike it? You should consider whether you really are in a position to determine the choice of technology. If they are smart people, and they know tech and you don't, maybe they're aware of more problem constraints than you are, and you are actually the short-sighted one, not them. You don't hire an expert musician who has mastered a dozen instruments and then tell him he's only allowed to play the oboe for the next two years. Being able to make your own technology choices is one of the attractions of running your own business (as a technologist). By imposing that externally, you take away a lot of the positive. Another thing you might want to think about is what else you can offer these people to entice them on your project. Always assume that they have many other similar options that you're competing against (this will be true for the good ones).
Skywing 16y ago
Just be sure that the stubborn one is not you. Your dislike of the following mentality might indicate that this could be the case - "use Z because it makes sense even though you've poured your heart&soul in X over the last few years."
- jjoe 16y ago
  I'm open & willing to consider this as a possibility. In retrospect, I can think of many situations where I changed course even though I was convinced. But I can also think of many others where I kept pursing things (but not at the risk of losing a client). The point is I'm stubborn to deliver what the client wants/needs. That's what I'm expecting from these folks. Regards Joe
  - lovskogen 16y ago
    But if people have a choice, and most do - they want to deliver AND use a tech they love. Both.
russell 16y ago
It's hard for us to judge which side is being (ir)rationally stubborn without knowing what technology stack you are proposing. More details, better advice.