The biggest question for me is "would they do a better job of running Tarsnap than I can do?" I built Tarsnap because I want the world to have good, secure, online backups; it's a profitable corporation simply because that's the most natural form for a backup service to take.<p>Leaving Tarsnap out of the picture -- supposing I was working at a startup instead of being the sole founder of a startup -- hiring me would involve:<p>1. Having a technical employee (or possibly a formerly-technical employee who has moved into management) approach me. Even the best recruiters have enough cultural mismatch with me that they utterly fail to get my attention. Rough ballpark: If I say "use the address in my whois" and you manage to contact me, you pass that test.<p>2. Telling what you're doing -- on the ground. I don't care about your elevator pitch, and aside from being satisfied that you can pay your bills, I don't care how profitable the company is going to be -- I'm never going to work somewhere in the hopes of getting a big IPO payout.<p>3. Telling me what you would want me to work on. Give specific examples of technical problems. I'm never going to move to a different city based on "we're doing lots of exciting things and we're sure you'll enjoy working here".<p>And if you're really serious:<p>4. Flying me down, renting me a hotel room, and giving me a desk in your offices for a week. Don't pay me, and don't assign me work to do; just tell people that I'm there. By the end of the week, one of two things will have happened: Either I'll have spent most of the week working on my own stuff, and won't be interested in working for you, or I'll have been talking to people and solving problems and writing code and I'll be excited about joining your team.
I've often thought that a company could recruit really great people by restricting the work week to three days and paying a proportionately lower salary.
I'm probably different (my own startup), but the only things which would make me M&A exit would be:<p>1) Chance to work on a dramatically more interesting problem (I'd probably jump ship in 15 minutes to do seriously credible human Mars settlement, or space cannon/ram accelerator for a $1/MB LEO sat constellation, or a viable way to deploy blinded ecash globally, or a US Senate seat or SCOTUS appointment, or "Commander, ISAF" so I could effect the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan within 6 months...)<p>2) A more effective way to deploy my product/service to more users (i.e. if Apple wanted us to turn the OSX and iOS network infrastructure into the most secure/performant/reliable way for businesses and groups to network)<p>More money generally wouldn't be enough; even just "go work for an immediate pre-IPO company where you're likely to get a $3mm payout if things go well, plus a $200k/yr salary" if #1 or #2 weren't met. SpaceX is really the only place which meets #1 and viable pre-IPO in the next year I think.
For me at the moment: not sure it's possible, but double my salary and I would listen to the pitch.<p>I am currently doing work on a political test that matches candidates to your views and shows you the closest match, both party and congressional candidate.<p>Every party that put forth a list had an invitation extended to send us a list of emails for their top 5 candidates to answer the same questions.<p>So far 45000 people out of an electorate of 220000 have gotten results from the test. 213 candidates out of 280 have responded.<p>I really feel that I have served democracy. I'm not sure any other job could have given as much job satisfaction.
All of the above, pretty much. Right now I make a six figure salary, and on top of that, I get stock options each month worth a few grand. To successfully poach me, you'd have to convince me of each of the following:<p>A) Your company is a better place to work than mine
B) Your problems are more interesting than the ones I'm working on now
C) You can pay me my current salary + a raise
D) You can pay me enough to give up the remaining stock option grants for the next year (since I assume the new company will have a 1-yr cliff for stock options... also disregarding differences in option amounts).
E) That your company will still be in business in at least 1 year, preferably 2.<p>Bonus: if I get a significant amount of stock (not options) in a pre-IPO circumstance where it's likely that I'll get $1MM+ for my share post-IPO or post-acquisition.<p>It's highly unlikely that this will come to pass. However, I may eventually become disenchanted with my current position, resign and then be willing to lower my standards.
Opportunity for advancement. And money. More than that, I'd be looking for a company that was amazing at staff development, really cared for its staff and stood up for them, and furthermore a company doing something I can believe in; I currently at a place that does public service work and that's not unimportant to me.<p>I know the above is virtually all soft stuff, compared to the money and autonomy-related options in the question, but having worked in places where I felt valued and supported, and in places where I felt ignored and mistrusted, it's important.
1,2 and 4 but "Significantly more money" and competent recruiters mostly. Nothing turns me off to a perspective employer like having to tell their recruter to re-read the email I just sent back to them.
Well, in ridiculous amounts, something like more money would work. Like, you offer me a million a year, I'll do the shittiest development job you have to offer for 5 years and retire.<p>But, assuming all things are equal, I would go with the job that allowed me to work whenever/wherever. Mainly because I'd love to work from home and travel at my leisure. Being able to book a trip overseas for a few months and just work from wherever I'm at is worth more to me than money or the type of work I'd be doing.
More money. I enjoy the work I currently do (though it's starting to get a bit samey, a change wouldn't be bad) but I am paid woefully under what my salary should be, because I stem from a government organisation that's now gone privatised.<p>I am strongly considering jumping ship because it's essentially costing me at least $40k/year in opportunity cost to stay in this position. That's no small chunk of money.
I already have plenty interesting work, where I work on a semi-flexitime arrangement (part time would lead to me getting bored), where I work from home 95% of the time, with the other 5% split between the office and a cafe.<p>So, I had to vote "more money".<p>Other factors that could potentially turn my head:<p>- Work that has meaning/world changing type impact.<p>- a better team (that said, my current one is pretty awesome)<p>- Outstanding benefits of some sort.<p>- Toys/hardware.<p>- Tequila (Bourbon also acceptable).
Easy, equal or better pay/benefits and more interesting work. I think people have a sliding scale though. For me, excellent health insurance coverage would be a dealbreaker. I'd stay where I was if another company offered to pay me 50% more without health coverage but totally leave if they offered me 10% less with the same health coverage and more interesting work.
I upvoted all four options, and it wasn't really about what would it take to poach me, but more about what would constitute the ideal/perfect mix.<p>Keeping with the above sentiment, I'd add:<p># smart(er) co-workers<p># smart & understanding management/bosses.<p># well designed/planned work environments<p># skin in the game<p>I'm in my early 20s, and I'm positive that this list might look different for someone in his 30s, 40s or 50s, etc.
Assuming I'd get insurance, I'd take a 50% pay cut if I could work 3 days a week or work remote.<p>If I could do 3 day weeks and work remote, I'd probably take a 60-70% pay cut.<p>More money would be nice, but in reality it'd be a temporary thing to save more money while I searched for a part time/remote job.
I created HN Charts to visualize HN Poll data. Click the following link to visualize the result of this poll in a chart: <a href="http://hnlike.com/hncharts/chart/?id=5554681" rel="nofollow">http://hnlike.com/hncharts/chart/?id=5554681</a>
I am pretty sure the primary motivator for people being poached is money and the second is a great place to work. The economy is going down the toilet globally again and groceries/cost of living isn't going down either.
Has anyone else felt that we are heading to a world populated by Untenured Prfofessors - people who effectively can sustain them selves on less than full time work and still find time for their own research?
Where's the "none of the above"? I'd require substantial control over my own destiny <i>and</i> a fairly huge salary/signing bonus to even think about it.
Can I add some more options to the poll?<p>- remote working plus monthly flights and hotels to meet the crew<p>- collegiate atmosphere and focus on learning and experimentation
nothing brings greater happiness than being with people you enjoy hanging out with. even the work can be dull, but if it's with folks you really gel with, you can make it fun/challenging/etc.
any company that is willing to pay me full time to work remotely on interesting problems. So I can be with the people I care about at night and not have to relocate.