Pics: A Day at Xobni [YC startup]
xobni.com
xobni.com
I mean, to have something to drink it's ok... and even the cool Ikea desk, but this here matters 0.001%... instead the stress is in the following stuff:
1) What I'm going to do there? I'll have chances to learn more? 2) Salary, is high enough? 3) Environment: it's a too big and chaotic city? Are my coworkers handy or a bunch of antisocial nerds?
After one week two displays, the cool furnitures, and so on will matter zero, it's all the rest that will do the difference.
Of course I don't think you need to attract Italian or European hackers at all, but just to share this difference.
I think what they really mean when they show the Aerons, several screens, etc. is that the place is run by techies, or people empathetic to them. There is the latent message that if they can afford expensive props and are willing to spend on them, the financial conditions of your work there can be good. The colorful walls and free drinks tell a story about joy and playfulness. Of course your coworkers will be smiling and wearing sunglasses all the time, while sharing exhilarating and mind-expanding design discussions on the whiteboard! ;)
I don't think they expect to convince you with this stuff; just to pique your interest and make you want to learn more.
About Aerons and several screens, again this does not match the EU hacker, that mostly uses a single screen (Quake players have mulitple ones), a common chair, but instead vim/emacs, fvwm2 or other high-productivity window manager and so on. Again a cultural mismatch, I don't want to say it's bad, just this message is not going to work outside the US.
Just pique your interest, ok, but if what they are looking for are real smart people they should know that this kind of advertising will hardly work. It's much better to talk about technology, freedom in the hour you should reach the office in the morning, $/cost of the life there, ...
Not to argue, but I am a semi-EU programmer and my first salaries went to a better chair and screen in my home office (I telecommute most of the time). I work in games, and my job requires me to use mostly Windows software (e.g., the game itself). Almost all the time I need to have most of the following windows open:
- my editor,
- the game window itself,
- a debug console/game object browser/inspector app,
- a log viewer,
- Perforce,
- a browser window with tabs open for Trac, bug tracking system, etc.,
- SQL Client (it's a persistent online game).
- E-mail, and
- IM.
Although I manage when I have to work from my laptop, I could use all the screen space I can get. Still, I have tried several monitors in the past and I didn't like that setup. I prefer a big one. I got a Dell 30" monitor in an offer last March and now I'm spoiled. :)
Maybe you don't need so much screen space if you're in a linux shop doing websites (still, Xobni does something Outlook-related, right?), but I think more pixels always help.
Still, I agree that the factors you propose are more important. I don't care about what equipment a company gives me, as long as they let me bring my own.
Time flexibility is a deciding factor for me, since I have really screwed up sleep patterns, and I just can't function in a 9-to-5 schedule. About technology, I'm spoiled and I couldn't work in any language of the C ancestry (except maybe C itself, if the problem domain is interesting enough). I'd love to hack in Scheme for a living, but I'm more than happy to work in Python.
Barring chair and monitor, which were one-shot investments, I don't have many expenses, so I don't care _that_ much about salary; it helps that life is cheaper where I live than where my company is located, so I can work half time without having to worry about my bank balance at the end of the month. Leaves more time for hobby hacking.
1. Money, benefits, vacation.
2. Do I get an office?
3. How much time do I spend fixing other people's bugs?
1. I can't say exactly what we're doing at Xobni yet except for "We're making email suck less" :-) The work here is at the intersection of Machine Learning, NLP, systems programming, and UI stuff.
2. The salaries we offer are very competitive - more than at most competitors. We want people to be happy and not have to worry about money in SF (an expensive city).
3. San Francisco is beautiful. From the Xobni office, it's 10 meters to shopping, 2 blocks to Union Square, 4 blocks to world-class museums, 30 minutes to the ocean, and 4 hours to skiing. Hard to beat that.
We actually give people three displays (not two).
Sounds good? http://www.xobni.com/jobs.php
As for priorities in looking for a job, heres mine:
1) Is the product something I'm passionate about?
2) Do I have fun with the people i the company?
3) Do they let me set my own work hours? (I work better at 4am when the world is silent)
We're making email suck less. The work here is at the intersection of Machine Learning, NLP, systems programming, and UI stuff. We're working on something that you will use every day.