The Codist

Developer Auction

I've been hoping for some time that someone would take a stab at making recruiting about the developer and not so much the employer. These folks seem to be on the right track, although they are so far only focusing on connecting folks to startups. Still, it's a decent way to get the ball rolling and they have had good response so far.

Of course it's pointless for me, no one hires 30 years of programming experience at a startup unless it's 6 people! I do like my current employer which has plenty of challenges but there is no kicker since it started up 16 years ago (and some of our technology sure feels antique now). Some of our challenges are self-inflicted and even though our competitors are much bigger we are not exactly light and nimble.

Joining a startup can be exciting but can also burn you out in no time. I did my startup in 1985-1987 when it wasn't exactly common and here in Texas it was downright strange. Today the startup world is a lot different. I was fortunate I knew two good programmers and we did some amazing stuff but in the end we didn't make much money but lots of good memories (and I still get emails from Trapeze's users, who still love it two decades after it vanished). Startups are still about getting the right product or service built with the right people at the right time. Often you start with friends or buddies but at some point you have to find more, so making it a little easier for both sides is a good thing.

I hope they have a lot of success so that it expands beyond the niche they are starting with. I imagine such an expansion will prove difficult as bigger companies and less exciting candidates will prove harder to bring together. It would be cool if it worked however. As an employer you can find people, and as a programmer you can find employers, but getting the right connection can be a nightmare in much of the country outside of the big areas. The blind seeking the blind is a random walk in hell.

My dream was always to have some place that would allow the programmer to be able to drive the right employers directly to them. Hopefully these folks can make it happen.

Even better if they can build a time machine and go back a decade or so: life would have been a lot easier!