On Startups

Product Hunt - www.producthunt.com - San Francisco/Remote - Lead iOS Engineer

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Imagine if reddit and the appstore would have a baby - that's Product Hunt

Mobile will soon be our most important platform and in 5 years from now we wont "install" apps. We wont "open" apps. How will our app look then? We are looking for someone who wants to have a say in this future.

The role is essentially an hybrid between Product Owner of the mobile app and the Lead Engineer that brings in structure to the team.

Given that the role has a big part in product design, it's easier if this person is in SF. That being said the majority of our team is remote (no further than Eastern Europe). Consider also applying if you are "close enough to SF" that you could come by regularly.

There are more details on the role here: https://angel.co/product-hunt/jobs/47947-lead-ios-engineer

But in a nutshell:

* Strong opinion on codestyle, structure, automated processes, product building

* Being able to learn from and enable others

Everyone in the team works quite autonomous and we value maker craftman ship highly.

https://twitter.com/rrhoover/status/540950035827916800 (we also do livestreamings to brainstorm with the community on upcoming or about-to-release features)

https://medium.com/on-startups/the-artifacts-of-product-hunt-11682e9e01dd

https://medium.com/@rrhoover/we-fucked-up-9163151c9166

To apply…

Whatever works for you is great. But it brings to mind Kate Losse's words, on who's supposed to "break things" in our society:

"What Stanford does not teach young white men like Midas, in the course of teaching them about startups, is that everything they are being taught—about breaking rules, taking risks, and not asking for permission—works especially well for them, and often only for them, because of who they are, what they look like, and all the associations their appearance does and does not carry. On University Avenue, white men who break things look, in Midas’ words, “cute”, not delinquent or scary, and this is why privileged young men are brought to Palo Alto in droves to learn and practice the business of what Facebook calls “breaking things”. At every turn this breaking of things is celebrated and encouraged. If you’re not breaking things in Palo Alto, you’re not doing your job.

"…unless you’re not a young white man.

"If you happen to live two more miles down University Avenue from where Midas trespassed camp boundaries, you are living in East Palo Alto, which is the economic and racial counterpoint to blond-boy-celebrating, millionaire-laden Palo Alto. And if you live in East Palo Alto and you decided to walk across the 101 freeway to University Avenue, to the same cafe that Midas walked to from the other side, you’d be taking a risk, but not one likely to be rewarded." (https://medium.com/on-startups/521cb394fda2)

Be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. You're probably doing a better job than you realize.

Try working with an executive coach - I work with Bryan Franklin. It's easier for you to develop leadership and management skills than it is for an outsider to really grok your business and share your vision.

Regarding the marketing role, be sure to get the right kind of marketer: https://medium.com/on-startups/1308a8f17137

Most of all: go slow on executive hires. There are a lot of "good talkers" out there. An empty seat is better than the wrong person.