from Gergely Orosz | by Gergely Orosz

Me: “If I started a startup I’d hire great people fast by *not* hiring/probing for data structures & algorithms skills most of big tech does.” Startup hiring their first backend engineer: “Let’s make excellent DS&A skills a requirement so we limit or talent pool on day 1.” t.co/wn7FqCYk6f

Job listing is “founding backend engineer” (aka first engineer) at a fintech startup called Equi. t.co/5bYdObRMpy Also, asking for experience doing the same thing (eg fintech) is also a great way to limit the talent pool. You’re a startup. No one knows you. Why do this?

When you’re a startup and don’t have the network to hire engineers #1-5, without job boards, you are doing yourself a *huge* disservice in filtering for perigee, not for motivation/potential. Makes it easier for startups who are. Like how Uber did for early hires (worked well).

And just to add what a creative early hire startup ad looks like: check out this one from @jakemor ✅ Salary range ✅ Equity range ✅ No DS&A screening ✅ A practical exercise Only thing I’m missing is a bit about the position (expectations on 1, 3, 6, 12 months) t.co/JLMT9WRcjh