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I will say to you what I say to those looking for technical co-founders: Learn to do it yourself first, until then, you trying to evaluate them is like a deaf/b

I will say to you what I say to those looking for technical co-founders: Learn to do it yourself first, until then, you trying to evaluate them is like a deaf/blind person being a judge on American Idol. Think about it, a deaf/blind dude reading up on how to evaluate good music/dance. Or flip the problem, do you think a business guy, pure and pure, can read some stuff and then be able to judge which one of the guys on your team is the best hacker? I know the skill set is different, but the concept is universal: you have to know a craft in order to appreciate it in order to know/tell the difference.

petervandijck 15y ago
"Learn to do it yourself first" -> that's like saying learn to play professional football first before evaluating NBA candidates. You just can't. Instead, evaluate them on smart, getting stuff done and culture fit, and then have a techie friend who is really good evaluate their tech skills.
- deleted 15y ago
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- abbasmehdi 15y ago
  "That’s like saying learn to play professional football first before evaluating NBA candidates" -> Why would you need to learn football to assess basketball candidates? All professional scouts are former players, FYI BTW. How about this, you go become a curling scout, knowing no rules, and having no confirmed history of the player, only what they tell you. "smart, getting stuff done and culture fit" <--- Translation: buzzwords. You're hiring a hustler, who can hustle you (the hacker) into believing any and all of this (it's easy to appear smart, make stuff up about getting stuff done, and they will mimic you and you'd think you were raised by the same family). If your skill is "computer" their skill is "people", you are a person (hence they will get crackin' on you right away) and they're not a computer, so you will be sitting there more nervous than them. The biggest mistake someone can make is having a company where they cannot perform a task, I think. It's ok to suck, but you should be able to do it, and not count on others to that level of helplessness.
- actionbrandon 15y ago
  haha, your geekiness is showing

petervandijck 15y ago

"Learn to do it yourself first" -> that's like saying learn to play professional football first before evaluating NBA candidates. You just can't. Instead, evaluate them on smart, getting stuff done and culture fit, and then have a techie friend who is really good evaluate their tech skills.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
abbasmehdi 15y ago
"That’s like saying learn to play professional football first before evaluating NBA candidates" -> Why would you need to learn football to assess basketball candidates? All professional scouts are former players, FYI BTW. How about this, you go become a curling scout, knowing no rules, and having no confirmed history of the player, only what they tell you. "smart, getting stuff done and culture fit" <--- Translation: buzzwords. You're hiring a hustler, who can hustle you (the hacker) into believing any and all of this (it's easy to appear smart, make stuff up about getting stuff done, and they will mimic you and you'd think you were raised by the same family). If your skill is "computer" their skill is "people", you are a person (hence they will get crackin' on you right away) and they're not a computer, so you will be sitting there more nervous than them. The biggest mistake someone can make is having a company where they cannot perform a task, I think. It's ok to suck, but you should be able to do it, and not count on others to that level of helplessness.
actionbrandon 15y ago
haha, your geekiness is showing