Recent submissions

Comment · 12 years ago
Chief Administrative Officer http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_administrative_officer

That position existed at my company several years ago before being acquired. Rumor was it used to be a more popular position back in the day. The company was over 100 years old.

Comment · 13 years ago
Both (leaning more heavily towards bad)

Bad: Paypal as a potential suitor will make some existing and potential customers very nervous and that won't be good for customer acquisition. Other potential suitors may see other heavyweights passing on the deal as a negative.

Good: The attention may increase the pool of suitors.

Comment · 13 years ago
What a short-sighted comment. Dig a little further down. If this is their reponse to an issue that affects three customers it sends a message that every customer is important. Their reponse makes me, a potential customer, trust that they take these matters seriously.

Obviously you can also take the opinion that this should have never happened and question their competence and security. I personally weigh their response and transparency more than the issue itself, but it may seem easier since the impact to overall customers was relatively small.

Their response seems to have been handled well and may even generate some positive PR. That may change if it turns out to have been one of the recent Rails security flaws.

Comment · 13 years ago
This is exactly what I've done over the past several years with great results. I stayed in constant contact with my old college professor (we play a sport at the same club) at a school none of you have ever heard of in the Chicago suburbs. The top CS student(s) at small schools can have extremely high potential.

When you combine this with investing time in candidates via a good internship or apprenticeship program the results can be spectacular. When you are outside SV it doesn't take much to make your internship program stand out by letting your interns do full stack development on actual applications that ship.

You need to invest the time on training/mentoring/pairing to make it work though.

Comment · 13 years ago
I agree with you that there are many forces that shape options, but my original point was that temp work is an option. My original reply was to someone that threw out a blanket statement that all temp work was bad in the long term. Surely there are some temp workers that can benefit in the long term from the skills that they will learn and the additional income.
Comment · 13 years ago
In real life land, people are responsible for their own careers. Temp jobs are an option if a worker so chooses and not a cure all. If a temp job to get a temp paycheck to get temp experience does not help fulfill their goals then they should not choose it.
Comment · 13 years ago
"Temp work is bad in the long term."

I'm not trying to be an anus, but temp stands for temporary which is not long term. It looks like they are looking to improve individual skills that are in demand in order to progress to a full-time job. Once they have relevant actual experience with companies it will be much easier to find a long term employment situation.

Comment · 13 years ago
It is not a black hole. Your vision is just clouded from pain. Let someone hold your hand while you get through it.

Ask your boss for a short-term leave due to family issues. Take it without pay if need be. You need to be around family and friends ASAP. At the very least you need to call someone like a close family member or friend.

Did you ditch your friends for this girl? Good friends that were good guys? Call them anyway. Call the person that you think will give you the most support. Even if it is a friend you ditched. Beg their forgiveness and tell them you really need someone to talk to.

Your first priority is to stop your perceived spiral. Get your feet firmly on the ground with another human being. Do you have such a person? Family? If not then talk to me.

You have lots of options. Your first post scared the crap out of me. You will get through this.

Then you can start thinking of your next step. Being in a location with a good support system is your short-term priority, not the fear of a salary decrease. You can always improve salary once everything else gets back in order.

Comment · 13 years ago
I'm going to make some assumptions about your situation so pardon me if I get some things wrong.

Do not make any decisions while you are in despair. Reach out to a family member or friend NOW. I felt something similar to this pain once (a lot of people have).

The pain will go away. It will go away slowly, but it WILL go away. Little by little every day. Get away from the life you had with her. Have family or friends that care about you? Go there NOW.

Eventually think about moving away, far away and find another job unless your support system is in KY, but it doesn't sound like it is. Get a new routine. Reinvent yourself. Look at this as an opportunity.

Talk to a family member, close friend or professional right away.

Edit: Oh and she's not the love of your life. Get that bullshit out of your head. There are others. Lots of others.

Comment · 14 years ago
How is this different than hiring your company to develop the software/application which you already offer as a service through your company? What extra value are you offering for the equity?

I am personally not interested, but I think anyone that reads this offer would have the same question. Good luck.

Comment · 14 years ago
I attended Starter League (formerly Code Academy) in Chicago last fall and I'm in my mid-30s with the exact same background as you. The development part was the easiest and like Keith said you will pick it up very quickly. The toughest part was juggling my full-time job (longer story) and family responsibilities. I was one of the oldest, but not the oldest. Not getting to hang out and build more meaningful relationships with the rest of the class due to other work and family obligations was the hardest part for me. It was a tremendous experience and I would recommend it if you are up for it. Your commitments may not be the same as mine were, but I would be happy to let you know more if you are interested.
Comment · 14 years ago
Why don't you buy it back? He gets to recoup part of his failed investment and you get your project back. Dedicate 3-7 days to implement what you've learned since that time and set up a passive income source. Would make a hell of a follow-up blog post too.
Comment · 14 years ago
Talk to your boss (manager, CTO, etc...) first! You have nothing to lose by doing this. Be completely honest with them about your feelings, but phrase things in positive ways. Don't say you "already stopped learning new things", but tell them you "have a lot more to offer and ready for more challenges".

Do you know nothing cool is coming down the pipeline for the foreseeable future? Show initiative and tell them all of the things that you genuinely love about the company and how you like it there. Don't put them on the defensive or focus on the negatives. During that conversation discuss the current positives and the future positives with you as an engaged employee with more responsibility.

You have absolutely nothing to lose if you are on the fence with your decision. If they react poorly you know what you need to do. If they react positively you may have a long-term happy future there.

Comment · 14 years ago
Here is the story from one of the co-founders of Code Academy.

http://howilearnedeverything.com/2011/10/30/clearing-the-air...

I only know his side of the story, but I know Neal and have the highest respect for him. He's a good dude.

Comment · 14 years ago
I strongly agree with this point. I was also very distracted during this very good post wondering if Dan signed off on it before it was published. By the end I assumed that was the case, but the message would have been better served without the distraction.

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