[acid_bath]

> I think that a startup is not the place for that kind of person. I just want incredibly intelligent, competent people who are opinionated but value each other as well.

Well good luck then to you, sir. If you find that Perfect Employee who's willing to start a job that might not exist in 6 months with below average pay and benefits (the standard startup MO), hire him or her immediately.

[ido]

Interesting, I thought start ups (at least of the VC-funded-grow-fast-and-sell-to-google/ms/oracle/ibm type) normally offer higher salaries than average to mitigate the longer working hours and lack of job security.

[j_baker]

Nope, the justification is that they're going to give you enough equity that you'll get rich when they sell to the google/ms/oracle/ibm type.

[stuff4ben]

You join a startup knowing those risks. And yet people still do it because we know that with that risk comes a potential reward at the end. BTW, he's not asking for the perfect employee, he's asking for what every company should be asking for. If not I question why you're hiring to begin with.

[acid_bath]

Really? _Really?_

You really think that there exist enough "incredibly intelligent" people to fill every tech role in existence?

Sure, every company can _ask_ for the top 1%, but unless they're delusional they're going to have to deal with the fact that some of the people they hire are just going to have to be average. Doubly so for a company offering no job security and long/chaotic hours for a very low chance of payoff in a few years.

Trust me, I know the risks because I've worked almost exclusively with and for start-ups. To me it's completely self evident why startup culture attracts the crazies or "rockstar" programmers. Who else is going to gamble so much time and effort on a what's almost certainly a failed venture? Usually not the industry's top talent, unless they're one of the founders.

Of course, I'm speaking very generally and making sweeping, stereotypes based on my own experience, which may not accurately reflect reality.

--edit--

My post above sounds a bit more aggressive than I intended, sorry. All I'm saying is that "incredibly intelligent" programmers with good communication skills are rare and it's pretty unreasonable (IMO) for a startup founder to just expect them to show up just because he has an idea and a little bit of money.

[djsiry]

I did!

[jbr]

Thanks!