Monday, July 13, 2015

Recruiter Spam

I get a lot of spam from recruiters which is both a blessing and a curse. I picked an active field which is both exciting and frightening at the same time. I like my current job so I tend to delete all of it without a second thought, but one caught my eye today...

The recruiter read my LinkedIn profile closely enough and wrote a carefully worded message well enough that I actually bothered to read past the subject line. This is where things went down-hill fast... Here are a few choice excerpts:

"My client is a very early stage start-up that has taken an angel round of funding from private investors last month."

They have funding? Great! It must be a decent enough idea to convince people to throw money at them....

"They have 3 co-founders on the business side of things and are looking for a technologist to build their vision. This person will be building out the platform from scratch."

Three business people, zero engineers, zero lines of code, starting a technology company. This is terrible, they must have a stellar product in the...

"They are building a Linked-In type platform"

Someone gave these people money, they have nothing built and the idea isn't even unique? ... I wish them all the best, but this looks like a classic example of how not to start a company, especially not a technology company. Having an idea is a wonderful thing, but believing that an idea is enough, and all you need is a geek to build it, for you to profit from, is so incredibly out-of-touch that I felt the need to share this.

Success is not dreamed, it is built.

Anyone trying to convince you otherwise likely has an ulterior motive. They have everything to gain, and very little to lose. I've taken odd jobs like this in the past, I was fresh out of high-school and they sounded great. Each time things start smoothly, ideas are shared, prototypes built, some progress is made. In any business, especially technology companies, tough decisions need to happen and if the business side does not understand the technology side (and vice-versa!) these initial decisions can crush a company entirely. Hearing the phrase "it is my idea" is a stark reminder that you are not working with this person you are working for them.

In any investment there are risks and rewards. It is important to think through all aspects before pursuing a new venture.

  • Who will you be working with?
  • Will you have enough common ground to be able to discuss difficult issues effectively?
  • Enough unique skills to be a solid contributor?
  • Ownership in areas that have a direct impact on your daily life?
  • Do the rewards outweigh the risks heavily enough to warrant change?
I think I'll be keeping my day job



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