Comment by lkrubner | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lkrubner | Hacker News Reader

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The idea that companies are using leetcode tests for rational reasons goes against everything I've seen and experienced or read about. What I have seen, working at startups for more than 20 years, is irrational, self-destructive behavior, over and over and over again. I've worked with many entrepreneurs who have a few million dollars in the bank, and they have a great idea, but they self-destruct due to two big reasons: ego and fear. I wrote about this in How To Destroy A Tech Startup In Three Easy Steps, where I talk about two cases that I saw with my own eyes. This kind of self-destruction is much more common than the kind of clever, rational behavior that you impute to these companies. And I think many other people are also witnessing this kind of irrational, self-destructive behavior, consider the reviews posted on the books page, where quite a few people chimed in to say the book matched their own experience:

https://www.amazon.com/Destroy-Tech-Startup-Three-Steps-eboo...

I think it's quite possible that both you and the parent comment are correct.

Based on my experience, you are most certainly correct that the companies using leetcode aren't following any line of reasoning, and certainly not one as sophisticated as what the parent is implying. Most decisions made by "leadership" are irrational and self-destructive as you describe there (your book looks very interesting btw).

However what the parent is claiming, as far as the effects of the leetcode interview process is certainly true. I also think that the parent is correct in that these, perhaps unintended, consequences of leetcode interview in attracting a docile though technically competed work force are beneficial to large organization.

I also think the parents second comment, about these consequences not being beneficial to startups ultimately aligns with your view: startups do great harm to themselves by mindlessly aping the behavior of big name tech cos, mostly out of ego and fear.

> However what the parent is claiming, as far as the effects of the leetcode interview process is certainly true

And once you hit LeetCode employee critical mass your culture becomes LeetCode employees. Management may have started it, but employees amplify and make it ubiquitous (especially engineers promoted to management/hire/fire).

> in attracting a docile though technically competent work force

Bingo. IMO this hits the nail absolutely on the head. $BigCo wants docile people who will show up and jump when they're told to jump without asking questions or making a fuss. And they'll throw a big bag of money at you to do so.

Obviously this is an incredibly narrow/limiting employment experience. But different strokes for different folks I guess

Would love to talk about the dating app world. It's so funny how many founders come into it thinking their "revolutionary matching algorithm" or whatever is going to make the greatest dating app ever. Until you realize that the problem is human nature, and no one wants to be told who they should match with. People want a name, an age, and a face; that's it. And anything that gets in the way of that will lead to your app being ignored.

And a height.

And a wallet (sometimes)

And a boat.

And a pink inflatable flamingo in a pool, and a cocktail

Yup. That's why Tinder won over OKCupid.

People just want to meet attractive people, compatibility be damned.

I'm glad I met my wife in 2010 before online dating became an utter cess pit.

And a location/distance, that seems to be pretty important most of the time, from what I can remember, but otherwise yeah.

We had one of those people as a client and thought his "special sauce" of Myers Briggs, some Neuroscience research test bullshit we had to build into the system and have people, and some bullshit matching algorithm based on astrological sign would be the next big thing. Of course it wasn't, but my boss was happy to take the guy's money to build it anyway.

The client actually told us that it would have ten million of users after three weeks of release, with basically no money spent on marketing. It did not. Nowhere close.

Some relevant offtopic. Ego and fear are also described in the eastern philosophy as the two biggest obstacles on your way. Ego is the illusion of separateness, the great seed of all human evils, that takes a monumental effort to get rid of. Next comes the fear of making the next step, "taking on more responsibility" as we would say here, because that new responsibility feels so overwhelming. Those who fail to make the leap of faith (or "to challenge themselves" in corpspeak) fall, and have to climb up again.

Thanks for recommending "How to Destroy a Tech Startup in 3 Easy Steps" - loved it!

edit: sorry, just realised you are the author!! (lack of sleep - not work related ))). Great reading, really enjoyed it. "Sital" gonna be used as a nickname )) Thanks mate! :praise

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