[dangrossman]

An exceptional developer has done something exceptional. Authored a popular JavaScript library. Founded and grew a business. Lead the team that introduced a new product line that's now used at 5 million businesses. Authored the research paper that led to a new Photoshop feature. Launched an app at a hackathon that now has 30k users and here's the code.

These things speak for themselves. That's what makes them exceptional. These developers are not the norm but they're not diamonds either -- yet, still, they've already proved themselves and their accomplishments are enough that they can get a job without subjecting themselves to this obstacle course of an interview process.

Braintree doesn't really need exceptional developers to work on a 20th century credit card platform, it just needs competent ones that are socially compatible with its team.

[thehammer]

We expect anyone applying to Braintree to be exceptional. It's subjective, and naturally some folks are more exceptional than others. Frankly, it's up to the candidate to decide if that label applies to them or not. What we're interested in is whether or not someone will be successful here. That's the sole purpose of an interview. Can this person do what we need them to do? And for the candidate, can this employer provide me what I need in order to be successful?

For us, it's more often the qualities that aren't as easily discernible from resumes and source code that have been better predictors of success. There are certainly companies that are best served by lone wolf, mercenary developers, and would be thrilled to have anyone with strong coding skills or impressive accomplishments. Communication and collaboration are more important to us, and as the post points out, you have to interview differently for those aspects.

[darksaga]

I would hardly think a developer who's "Founded and grew a business" would be applying at Braintree. Likewise, if Braintree were interested in hiring them, I doubt they could probably afford his/her salary.

I would probably have a heart attack if I saw a Braintree release that announced they just hired John Resig as a JS developer. This is the league I think of when I hear the word "exceptional developer" being tossed around.