What qualities make a good startup engineer?
1. The ability to “get s*** done. This is too vague a description for an attribute, so: The ability to recognize a “best fit” solution to a particular (product) problem or requirement and implement it as quickly as possible, also recognizing that the best solution for the product **right now** may mean acquiring some technical debt to be paid later. Another way to say it is the ability to ship as quickly as possible probably without adherence to some engineering dogma. Ship! 1a. Very important: knowing when to pay off technical debt. It can be more of an art than a science, and at times it’s blatantly obvious; I’m not sure whether this is an acquired or a native skill, but it’s important. 1b. Love your own code, and love to rewrite your own code. Don’t be precious with it. Your code is not you, you are not your code. Rewriting your own work is a perk of the job, not a chore. 2. The ability to learn very quickly. I believe this implies some (high) level of intellectual curiosity, as the
Working in a startup is both difficult and awesome for the same reasons: very little process/politics, but always more work than anyone has time to do. • Organized & Driven – aka they can Get Shit Done • Smart • Energetic/Passionate • Quick Learner • Not an Asshole, you should enjoy spending time with them Organized/Driven (Get Shit Done): This is the hardest quality to screen for, finding a smart engineer who can also manage their own time, prioritize their work, and keep a number of balls in the air. This has proven to be the greatest predictor of success for Engineers in every startup I’ve worked at. Consistently producing results is the name of the game. Smart: This should be obvious, but your startup should be solving hard problems that require intelligent engineers. A great engineer should have strong opinions loosely held and be willing to evaluate decisions and strategies from first principles, without being a jerk. Energetic/Passionate: The hardest part of a startup is pacing
A great startup engineer will: • Take ownership: make sure a feature is completed end-to-end, without shirking and passing responsibility to someone else • be able to contain the uncertainty: one of the characteristics of a startup are frequent product changes as the company pivots to capture the right market • Help QA by making sure features have an automated testing script, which can be used in future versions • Be a “team player”: able to handle the stress without becoming an a**ho**,
