"I'd say the startup MBA is starting one". Extending that principle sideways, a hacker should be someone who has written (and can show) a decent code base. A d

"I'd say the startup MBA is starting one". Extending that principle sideways, a hacker should be someone who has written (and can show) a decent code base. A designer someone who has made some good designs, an entrepreneur someone who has made money running a business , a grad student applicant someone who has a significant research result and so on. I am sure it sounds very obvious when I write it down like that but I am surprised at how often substitutes are demanded - a CS degree, years of experience, an MBA, GRE/GPA scores. If I were interviewing a hacker for a startup my only demand would be send me (a url to) some code you wrote and are proud of. The cv can come later (if at all).