4 ms·

I understand the problem. Recruiting engineers is hard, but is engineers recruiting engineers sustainable? Do they hire more engineers to do recruiting?

nicholasjbs 16y ago
That's an open question. Right now, our time doing the legwork with this isn't our bottleneck. We're focused on being 10x better than the status quo. Once we hit our capacity, we'll scale with some linear combination of software and people.
- jhuckestein 16y ago
  Here's something I could think of: Engineers might one day have agents to haggle with businesses. Those agents need to know a lot about engineering in the same way that many sports agents are former players. Is there reason to believe that such a time is coming?
  - iamdave 16y ago
    "many sports agents are former players"??? In some sports I can see this...
  - nicholasjbs 16y ago
    That's an interesting thought. It's certainly possible. We see ourselves as a market correction -- engineers are in tremendous demand, but the market hasn't fully adjusted yet. Salaries haven't shifted dramatically and it's still a pain to find a new job, even for great engineers. My bet is that the scale will continue to shift in engineers' favor until we hit an equilibrium.
  - adora 16y ago
    Yep, totally. And something like this also helps the other side. Case in point: have a couple friends who quit their high-paying engineering positions, and ended up consulting for companies as the first technical interviewer a candidate meets. Companies will pay a lot just to have that first filter. Interviewing is so time consuming!
  - marciovm123 16y ago
    I think PG is already the agent that hacker-preneurs want representing them. His role reminds me a lot of Scott Boras in baseball.
  - 100k 16y ago
    Hah, that would be awesome. I would love an agent.
- aschobel 16y ago
  Good luck! You are trying to solve one of the biggest challenges we face right now. We have a good product, happy users, catchy domain name (har) but are having a hell of a time hiring because nobody knows of us.
  - nicholasjbs 16y ago
    Thanks! Awareness is a big part of the problem. Most every engineer knows about Google and Facebook, but many don't know about all the smaller companies that are wonderful places to work but don't (yet) have the mindshare of the big cos. We hope to provide an enjoyable and efficient way to correct that.
  - fleitz 16y ago
    I've generally found that competitive compensation packages overcome these issues. Especially if you post the numbers in the job description. (This isn't meant personally just a reflection of what I've seen in the industry) Also, if you're hiring put it in your profile. I see lots of jobs on catch.com but nothing in your HN profile. As well... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=catch.com&srchType=A http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=catch.com&s... It's free so why not put post an ad? Or is SF the place where they charge for that? (I'm in Vancouver so it's free to post a job ad in CL here)
    - aschobel 16y ago
      We can't compete with the likes of Facebook when it comes to compensation. There are some crazy stories out there of what they areoffering people. Isn't a more interesting pitch telling folks that they can reach millions of users with a team that is solving interesting technical problems using pretty bad ass technology?
      - fleitz 16y ago
        Isn't Facebook also using some pretty bad ass technology (they did invent a PHP to C++ compiler after all)? I come from a background in writing financial software so I'd personally rather reach a few users willing to pay for some bad ass software than to reach millions who receive (or perceive) such a marginal benefit from the software that they aren't willing to pay for it. I got to play with some pretty cool tech (http://bit.ly/FredPatent http://bit.ly/FredPatent) and get a decent cheque at the end of the month (to be fair I was probably paid more in line your pay scale than facebook's) I'm sort of solidly in the DHH school of startups where you should be charging for your software. If your software provides value to people they should be willing to pay for it, or you should be attracting a valuable audience that you can sell to advertisers. It sounds like catch.com is making money (decent size team, lots of press) so kudos to you guys building a great product. edit: I saw on your twitter feed that catch raised $7mm. definite congrats on that one!
sliverstorm 16y ago
I am not affiliated w/ the company, but it sounds like it could work out. Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like recruiting?
- pgbovine 16y ago
  Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like recruiting? that sounds a bit over-confident, eh? i read that as, "Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like X?" where X has nothing to do with their training or specialty.
  - sliverstorm 16y ago
    I don't see an engineer as someone who has a training or a specialty. I see an engineer as someone who will learn whatever is needed, acquire whatever skill is required, to solve a problem he/she has set their mind to.

nicholasjbs 16y ago

That's an open question. Right now, our time doing the legwork with this isn't our bottleneck. We're focused on being 10x better than the status quo. Once we hit our capacity, we'll scale with some linear combination of software and people.

jhuckestein 16y ago
Here's something I could think of: Engineers might one day have agents to haggle with businesses. Those agents need to know a lot about engineering in the same way that many sports agents are former players. Is there reason to believe that such a time is coming?
- iamdave 16y ago
  "many sports agents are former players"??? In some sports I can see this...
- nicholasjbs 16y ago
  That's an interesting thought. It's certainly possible. We see ourselves as a market correction -- engineers are in tremendous demand, but the market hasn't fully adjusted yet. Salaries haven't shifted dramatically and it's still a pain to find a new job, even for great engineers. My bet is that the scale will continue to shift in engineers' favor until we hit an equilibrium.
- adora 16y ago
  Yep, totally. And something like this also helps the other side. Case in point: have a couple friends who quit their high-paying engineering positions, and ended up consulting for companies as the first technical interviewer a candidate meets. Companies will pay a lot just to have that first filter. Interviewing is so time consuming!
- marciovm123 16y ago
  I think PG is already the agent that hacker-preneurs want representing them. His role reminds me a lot of Scott Boras in baseball.
- 100k 16y ago
  Hah, that would be awesome. I would love an agent.
aschobel 16y ago
Good luck! You are trying to solve one of the biggest challenges we face right now. We have a good product, happy users, catchy domain name (har) but are having a hell of a time hiring because nobody knows of us.
- nicholasjbs 16y ago
  Thanks! Awareness is a big part of the problem. Most every engineer knows about Google and Facebook, but many don't know about all the smaller companies that are wonderful places to work but don't (yet) have the mindshare of the big cos. We hope to provide an enjoyable and efficient way to correct that.
- fleitz 16y ago
  I've generally found that competitive compensation packages overcome these issues. Especially if you post the numbers in the job description. (This isn't meant personally just a reflection of what I've seen in the industry) Also, if you're hiring put it in your profile. I see lots of jobs on catch.com but nothing in your HN profile. As well... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=catch.com&srchType=A http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sof?query=catch.com&s... It's free so why not put post an ad? Or is SF the place where they charge for that? (I'm in Vancouver so it's free to post a job ad in CL here)
  - aschobel 16y ago
    We can't compete with the likes of Facebook when it comes to compensation. There are some crazy stories out there of what they areoffering people. Isn't a more interesting pitch telling folks that they can reach millions of users with a team that is solving interesting technical problems using pretty bad ass technology?
    - fleitz 16y ago
      Isn't Facebook also using some pretty bad ass technology (they did invent a PHP to C++ compiler after all)? I come from a background in writing financial software so I'd personally rather reach a few users willing to pay for some bad ass software than to reach millions who receive (or perceive) such a marginal benefit from the software that they aren't willing to pay for it. I got to play with some pretty cool tech (http://bit.ly/FredPatent http://bit.ly/FredPatent) and get a decent cheque at the end of the month (to be fair I was probably paid more in line your pay scale than facebook's) I'm sort of solidly in the DHH school of startups where you should be charging for your software. If your software provides value to people they should be willing to pay for it, or you should be attracting a valuable audience that you can sell to advertisers. It sounds like catch.com is making money (decent size team, lots of press) so kudos to you guys building a great product. edit: I saw on your twitter feed that catch raised $7mm. definite congrats on that one!

sliverstorm 16y ago

I am not affiliated w/ the company, but it sounds like it could work out. Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like recruiting?

pgbovine 16y ago
Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like recruiting? that sounds a bit over-confident, eh? i read that as, "Engineers solve problems. Why shouldn't they be able to solve a problem like X?" where X has nothing to do with their training or specialty.
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  I don't see an engineer as someone who has a training or a specialty. I see an engineer as someone who will learn whatever is needed, acquire whatever skill is required, to solve a problem he/she has set their mind to.