The purpose of this post is to help some employers understand that some people expect a minimum of courtesy. I truly understand that I may not be what a company

The purpose of this post is to help some employers understand that some people expect a minimum of courtesy. I truly understand that I may not be what a company is looking for. However, it takes literally 5 seconds to tell me that. Pretty sure most server fires are dealt with by Amazon and the likes (intentional ignorance, yes I understand startup founders are busy. So am I). If their team is not important to them, then that's probably not a place where I (or a lot of other people) would want to work. I'm specifically not talking about HR recruiters, but founders/co-founders/engineers that do hiring. I don't find anything more frustrating than having 10 emails back and forth, and then suddenly silence. I'm sorry, but I think this is utter lack of respect. As for contacting the founders personally, that's why I ceased sending e-mails to generic jobs@foo.bar. Sure, sometimes that works, but I've found much better success by e-mailing people directly. Asking my friends if they know any startups isn't really the point (besides, that wouldn't open up a large enough network). I'm talking more about HN posters specifically, because it's much easier to find an interesting startup, one that matches my skills and interests, from the larger selection base on HN. I'm wasn't looking for just any startup just because it's a startup. I was more trying to find one that matches my interests. I won't get into the passion argument again. At least, that's my philosophy regarding job search.