That's totally true ! Moreover when you know for sure that the guy who read your mail is himself a very good programmer, that he saw dozen of little guys like y

That's totally true ! Moreover when you know for sure that the guy who read your mail is himself a very good programmer, that he saw dozen of little guys like you, we really have to make intensive efforts in our letters. But we also have to keep in mind that's only a mail : an article won't be read. So, even if we fall in love with some startups (HN startups have such amazing projects, I spend hours reading your blogs about your work), even in this case we can't send a poem in your honor. The letter have to be well balanced. ... and that's how I spent four hours for sending only one letter to one company. Faith in the fact that the good work pay, you know what it is.