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BrainScraps

440 karma · joined December 4, 2010

VP Engineering @ True Link Financial

Twitter @BrainScraps [http://twitter.com/brainscraps]

http://github.com/BrainScraps

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BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2018)
True Link Financial | Senior Software Engineer | Remote (US only) | Full-time | https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/careers

We want you to be a happy human, writing Rails code, and helping us build a great, inclusive culture.

We build financial tools that help people get more safety out of a thinning social safety net. We are proud to be doing that work because it matters a lot to a lot of people.

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2017)
True Link Financial | San Francisco | Software Engineer | Onsite

We exist to provide quality financial services for all: from protecting granddad’s money from scammers to providing supplemental financial tools that support disabled Veterans.

About us:

- 90% of our work is in React and Rails, 5% is in Java, and about 5% is DevOps—AWS

- Our team works to meet high standards of usability, security, and availability - because our customers depend on our products for their immediate (today's groceries) and long-term (retirement investments) financial needs. So we move fast, but we can't be cavalier about breaking things. ‍

- We also get to experiment and build cool things: We've used Twilio to craft a useful and constantly-improving IVR for customer service, and we help make our customers and operations folks happy by processing inquiries via SMS. 


We'd love to chat if: - You've got a minimum of two years of software engineering experience, preferably with Ruby on Rails
.

- You’re a nice person who has worked on hairy, wacky full-stack code in production.

- You enjoy exploring implementation options and collaborating with product folks.

- You can improve the codebase without being rude, judgmental or arrogant about it.

- You would describe yourself less as more of a 'session musician' (i.e. Carol Kaye) than a 'rockstar'.

- You're looking for a full-time, on-site role in San Francisco.

Our engineering team is striving for true inclusion, since we know what it's like to be underrepresented in tech. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.


You can apply through Angel List https://angel.co/true-link/jobs/31301-software-engineer or by emailing jobs@truelinkfinancial.com. We promise to reply within 2 business days! Keywords if you Cmd+F’d the page: rails, RoR, ruby, sloth_gifs, ReactJS, Flux, Ansible, fintech, full-stack, twilio

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2016)
Software Engineer | True Link Financial | San Francisco, CA (onsite)

A YC company in 2013, True Link Financial exists to provide quality financial services for all: from protecting grandma’s money from scammers to providing supplemental financial tools that support disabled Veterans. 


About us:

* 90% of our work is in React and Rails, 5% is in Java, and about 5% is DevOps—AWS

* Our team works to meet high standards of usability, security, and availability - because our customers depend on our products for their immediate (today's groceries) and long-term (retirement investments) financial needs. So we move fast, but we can't be cavalier about breaking things.

* We also get to experiment and build cool things: We've used Twilio to craft a useful and constantly-improving IVR for customer service, and we help make our customers and operations folks happy by processing inquiries via SMS. 


We'll probably get along wonderfully if:

* You've got a minimum of 10 months of software engineering experience, preferably with Ruby on Rails


* You’re a nice person who has worked on hairy, wacky full-stack code in production

* You enjoy exploring implementation options and collaborating with product folks

* You can improve the codebase without being rude, judgmental or arrogant about it

* You would describe yourself less as more of a 'session musician' (e.g. Carol Kaye) than a 'rockstar'

* You're looking for a full-time, on site role in San Francisco 


Our engineering team is striving for true inclusion, since we know what it's like to be underrepresented in tech. Our engineers didn't go to 'top CS schools' and have fought to get into this industry, so we question all tech industry platitudes. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

You can apply through Angel List https://angel.co/true-link/jobs/31301-software-engineer or by emailing jobs@truelinkfinancial.com.

We promise to reply within 2 business days!

Keywords if you Cmd+F’d the page: rails, RoR, ruby, sloth_gifs, ReactJS, Flux, Ansible, fintech, full-stack, twilio

BrainScraps··on Guide to Your Equity
This is a game changer, especially for people who are new/inexperienced in the Startup Compensation Lotto.

I wish more companies would approach this subject so transparently!

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2015)
Software Engineer | True Link Financial | San Francisco, CA (onsite)

Our software stands valiantly between scammers and grandma's money.

I found out about this big-hearted YC company from the June 1st Who's Hiring thread and started working full-time on June 15th. Here are some things I've done since then:

- Helped to train & mentor our talented first-job engineer (sourced through Hacker News!)

- Built internal features that made our Customer Support folks pretty much squeal with excitement

- Got to attend & report back on a brilliant event called 'Disrupt Bias' - featuring top researchers in that field

- Attended an INCREDIBLE annual offsite held at a beautiful North Bay ranch

- Watched 'lightning talks' by various team members about the Fermi Paradox, Frank Lloyd Wright, Coco Chanel & many more

- Was treated with compassion after a pretty ridiculous security misstep :/

- Got selected to speak at an upcoming conference that hasn't published its speaker list yet. :)

- Learned a ton about how payment processing works under the hood

- Used Twilio to add functionality to our phone system so our CS friends have a lower call volume

- Increased gif / screencap usage in PRs & code reviews

We're looking for nice people who have worked on hairy, wacky production full-stack code before - someone who can make things better without being rude, judgemental or arrogant about it. We'd prefer session musicians over rockstars.

Email jobs@truelinkfinancial.com and we'll get back to you within 2 business days, pinky swear!

keywords for you CMD+F types (not requirements) - rails, RoR, Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman, ruby, fintech, full-stack, chinchillas

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2015)
Software Engineer | True Link Financial | San Francisco, CA (onsite) Our software stands valiantly between scammers and grandma's money. I found out about this big-hearted YC company from the June 1st Who's Hiring thread and started working full-time on June 15th. Here are some things I've done since then: - Learned a ton about how payment processing works under the hood - Used Twilio to add functionality to our phone system so our CS friends have a lower call volume - Gotten coffee/lunch with pretty much everyone on the team (we're still small) - Increased gif / screencap usage in PRs & code reviews - Automated transaction auditing, saving lots of person-hours && increased test coverage - Helped translate fast-speaking Spanish on a few CS calls - Observed how a nimble startup implements Grown-Up-Business-Level security - Finally actually learned what ruby's #inject method is all about - Had a real reason to consult POODR We're looking for nice people who have worked on hairy, wacky production full-stack code before - someone who can make things better without being rude, judgemental or arrogant about it. We'd prefer session musicians over rockstars. Email jobs@truelinkfinancial.com and we'll get back to you within 2 business days, pinky swear! keywords for you CMD+F types (not requirements) - rails, RoR, ruby, fintech, full-stack, chinchillas
BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2015)
Software Engineer | True Link Financial | San Francisco, CA (onsite)

Our software stands valiantly between scammers and grandma's money.

I found out about this big-hearted YC company from the June 1st Who's Hiring thread and started working full-time on June 15th. Here are some things I've done since then:

- Learned a ton about how payment processing works under the hood

- Used Twilio to add functionality to our phone system so our CS friends have a lower call volume

- Gotten coffee/lunch with pretty much everyone on the team (we're still small)

- Increased gif / screencap usage in PRs & code reviews

- Automated transaction auditing, saving lots of person-hours && increased test coverage

- Helped translate fast-speaking Spanish on a few CS calls

- Observed how a nimble startup implements Grown-Up-Business-Level security

- Finally actually learned what ruby's #inject method is all about

- Had a real reason to consult POODR

We're looking for nice people who have worked on hairy, wacky production full-stack code before - someone who can make things better without being rude, judgemental or arrogant about it. We'd prefer session musicians over rockstars.

Email jobs@truelinkfinancial.com and we'll get back to you within 2 business days, pinky swear!

keywords for you CMD+F types (not requirements) - rails, RoR, ruby, fintech, full-stack, chinchillas

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?
Early startup, we have 4 engineers. 2 are bootcamp grads (General Assembly and Flatiron)
BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?
I hope this becomes an industry standard. Thanks for sharing, Avi
BrainScraps··on "If you're over 30, you're a slow old man" – Zuckerberg. He turns 30 tomorrow.
Here's some interesting data: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/04/how-old-are-silicon-valleys-top...
BrainScraps··on Ask HN: I'm visiting SF for 3 days, what do I do?
Check out http://www.sfwat2do.com - always intersting stuff there.
BrainScraps··on Omaha Code School
I'll do a proper testimonial later that's ready for the site, but I was a member of Sumeet's WDI (San Francisco) class and I can say that he's not only a talented instructor, but he's also hard-working and compassionate one as well. When you're spending that much time with someone, for 12 weeks, you find out a lot about them. The more I learn about Sumeet, the more I admire him.
BrainScraps··on Oakland robberies surge as investigations sputter
This one is generally highly recommended. Didn't work for my laptop, but I think it was stolen by professionals that wiped it without ever powering it on.

http://preyproject.com/

BrainScraps··on Why Your Startup Can’t Find Developers
Love the platoon analogy. I've seen it work firsthand and it works in all sorts of different places - especially startups!
BrainScraps··on Why Your Startup Can’t Find Developers
You can't find developers because everyone in the Greater SF Bay Area is looking for the perfectly seasoned developer that has deep experience in their given stack.

It reminds me of a grownup having Play-Doh time with toddlers. The grownup takes the time to make some recognizable object (a dog, a human figure, an ice cream cone) and then the toddler starts grabbing for it. This is how many young companies act with talent. They don't want to invest in people, they don't want to bring on interns or junior folks. They want high-output plug-and-play rockstar senior devs. And they want them on their terms.

Some of you might see things differently, but that's the impression I'm getting from all of the listings I'm seeing in my job search (for a junior dev role.) There are some companies that are making the long-term investment in finding the less refined talent and developing it, but they are hard to find.

I hope other people see this trend and that I'm not just entirely saturated in the pungent juice of sour grapes.

BrainScraps··on Rails 4 startup template
Absolutely!

I noticed that suspenders(thoughtbot) also had that option. They used hub, which I think is a bit more intrusive than just installing the octokit gem. I'm interested to see what you come up with! :)

BrainScraps··on Rails 4 startup template
So, I did something similar, and I found that one of my least favorite things was going into the browser to create and link the github repo. Using the octokit gem, I automated that part. Feel free to swipe some code from my gist:

https://gist.github.com/BrainScraps/5952463

Rock on.

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Help We're having a baby. Now what?
If I could do one thing for you, I would make it possible for you to parent your first like your third.

But it's impossible.

I wish you could cowboy-code your way through infanthood, like a parent of two can: "Chill out, baby! Your diaper isn't that wet." or "You can't crawl yet, so just stay in the middle of the room while I run out to the car"

Please believe that we've gotten this far as a species because we're fairly fault-tolerant. We're built to survive. I know that preventable tragedies happen all the time, but don't let fear run your life.

If you help out your wife with as many things as you possibly can, you'll all survive with your sanity intact.

Gear: Boppy, mirror that enables you to see the baby in your rear view mirror, good low-light camera, good photo library/storage solution (Picasa, Flickr, whatever), cheap lightweight stroller for quick trips, Ergobaby

BrainScraps··on We're killing it, bro
At the risk of making your very real journey seem trivial, I'll go ahead and say it: I'm hooked.

Just do me a favor-

don't A Million Little Pieces me, bro.

BrainScraps··on Vine for Android
Does anyone else find this app sort of overwhelming? Not necessarily in a bad way either.

I remember when my boss showed me a flurry of vines from her trip to Washington DC, I found myself feeling a bit disoriented as I tried to catch up with the rapidly switching contexts of each video.

The same things happens to me when I'm scrolling through a feed. It's strange to me that it doesn't happen with pictures, but I can only describe it as being teleported through the globe in rapid-fire mode.

Am I just an old fogey at the ripe old age of 31?

BrainScraps··on Treehouse gets $7M to bring learn-to-code programs to high schools
Auuugh! Jason is creepin' on me! Best Day Evarrrr!
BrainScraps··on Treehouse gets $7M to bring learn-to-code programs to high schools
I hope that at least 1/2 of this money goes to making videos that feature Jason's signature end-of-video "Creeper Smile"

I've never met him, but I love that guy!

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
Great insight - thanks for this!
BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
100 candidates for a junior Rails position? Egadz. That's not super encouraging.

What are some things that you find disqualify candidates when you interview them?

Or conversely, what makes candidates look especially good when you're narrowing it down?

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
Thank you so SO much for taking the time to drop some knowledge here.

This is fantastic. If I'm ever in Austin, I'd be glad to buy you a drink!

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
This is great advice that I was pretty certain I'd see here.

I do enjoy programming! I've been working with HTML/CSS/jQuery for a couple of years and PHP/mySQL for about a year on and off and I absolutely enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when everything clicks and you get that one little line of output in the console that you've been driving at for 3 days.

I enjoy it enough to build things at hackathons just to see if I can. And sometimes I win and get interviewed on TechCrunch. Okay, so maybe that just happened one time.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/12/meet-the-vetsintech-hackath...

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
>that they can't find enough talented people.

Interesting nuance here. Maybe there are a lot of hacks out there who can Google their way through a Rails Tutorial, but cause more trouble than help when brought on to a production app?

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
Thanks for the feedback!

I'm actually making a part of my transition plan to attend an intensive course like those offered by General Assembly and CodeFellows.org

Those programs are designed to give me plenty of opportunity to put up live projects and public code. I have some stuff now, but it's so messy and noob-tastic that I'm not showing it to anybody for fear of being put in the stocks. It's that bad. :/

BrainScraps··on Ask HN: Data on job market for entry-level Rails devs?
Thanks a ton for these data- helpful stuff!

I've shown her some raw data from Indeed and DICE, but the reason why I've turned to the community is this:

She's not impressed with the raw number of open positions. If that were a conclusive indicator, then getting a marketing job would be a snap in the Bay Area, but I assure you that it is not. I tried explaining to her that price (or salary) is a good indicator of the saturation rate of the market, but she's not convinced by that argument. (I'm not sure that I am either. It could be that the salary averages are being driven up by more senior ruby positions that I wouldn't be able to qualify for in less than a few years.)

That's why I'm hoping to get some data points from employers who know whether or not there is actually a dev shortage like many people claim.

BrainScraps··on Dear HN "Who's hiring" posters - Why my job search on HN sucked big-time
>If you have "We get sooooo many applications, we'll only contact those we're interested in" I go "Bullshit!".

Is it too naive to think that people who are interested in building their brand and developing goodwill in this small community would take the time to respond to anyone who would take the time to send along a cover letter/resume?

The other thing that I really don't get is when people are using a platform like Jobvite, Simply Hired, or Resumator to process applicants while still failing to notify applicants of a) the reciept the application, b) an approximate timeline for response or c) the dismissal of applicants at each stage of screening. Shouldn't these platforms make mass notification a simple matter?

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