sbisker

Adam is our Director of Data over at Locu. Our operation is powered by a very unique data structuring system, crucial to which is a heavy crowd computing component. Adam's research was in crowd-powered databases at MIT, and Locu seems to follow from his research nicely. (I briefly worked in his advisor's lab when doing my masters at MIT as well.) As best as I can tell, he is not bored yet. If he is, he is hiding it well.

Here's a blog article he's written for us about our crowd computing process: http://blog.locu.com/post/25389032496/the-locu-workflow-a-cr...

And here's a more general article about our technology: http://blog.locu.com/post/36602971835/7-reasons-to-nominate-...

I'll see if I can't get him on this thread if it's still alive tomorrow morning.

The point is that no one really thought "22 year olds" were capable of making an economic impact before YC came along. Hence, someone with the simple idea to say "Hey, we should give 22 year olds this deal" created an employment impact on the economy as big as Facebook. The more people that come up with new funding models like YC that actually work, the better we'll all be.

Those customers who feel bad and were originally willing to pay the full price savings will likely cancel and reorder. Those customers who feel bad and genuinely could not pay the full price, will keep their discounted orders, and the company will get to keep those people as customers well into the future.

I'm curious how transparent they'll be with how many canceled their orders when the dust settles - would be a good case study for other companies in this boat who want to trust their customers to do the right thing for themselves.

Locu is developing technologies to change local search ($35bn advertising market by 2014) through a number of initiatives that help local businesses better connect with their consumers. As part of this vision, we created one of the world's largest semantically-annotated repositories of real-time small-business data, which is now distributed and viewable on sites like OpenTable, Citysearch and TripAdvisor (and more). We recently launched Locu.com, our local business facing product, that combines great tech and beautiful design to help local businesses better manage their online presence.

Our beautiful offices are in downtown San Francisco, CA (Union Square) and Cambridge, MA (Kendall Square). Check out photos and learn more about our other perks: http://locu.com/about/jobs/

Frontend Engineering

If you are passionate about building products that will touch millions of merchants and hundreds of millions of consumers through the applications powered by our local data APIs, Locu is the right place for you. [JQuery, Less, Django, etc.]

Backend engineering

We started Locu out of MIT to solve real-world problems by leveraging the latest research in computer science. If you are looking to solve some of the most challenging problems in machine learning, NLP and human computation, you'll feel right at home. [Python, Django, Node.js, Postgres, Redis, AWS, etc.]

Design

We're looking for visual designers who are excited to redefine what the future of local business data looks like across web and print, and to create tools that put modern web technology in the hands of merchants.

Interested? Drop us a line at jobs@locu.com. Please include "[HN]" in the subject of your letter. Learn more about us (now with photos!) at: http://locu.com/about/jobs/

Of course, "trying" is legally just a terrible way to not promise and still get sued. I get why their lawyers would want them not even mention the data itself.

Still...Facebook is not exactly trusted when it comes to the privacy of just about anything. They're trying to operate a service in the grey area between what they want to do and reality, and doing so depends heavily on people's trust in their intentions. You can guess how much I trust Facebook to keep my data private right now (if not from my timeline, then from the government, etc.)

Unless, of course, the key isn't the only way the message can be decrypted.

For instance, YC rather explicitly doesn't provide shared office spaces. The shared office space of a TechStars location is a large startup community galvanizer in the cities where TechStars has set up shop - and partially offsets the need to be in the Valley for those companies.

There's no question that TechStars is tweaking the YC model subtilely in its attempts to get global outreach. (This is a good thing, the world could use more experimentation.)

Locu is developing technologies to change local search ($35bn advertising market by 2014) by creating the world's largest semantically-annotated repository of real-time small-business data. We have recently launched Locu <http://locu.com>, our first product, which helps restaurants better manage their online presence.

We're creating powerful design tools that let local merchants better connect with their consumers. We're looking for world-class visual designers and user experience designers who are excited to redefine what a menu looks and feels like across web and print, and create tools that put modern web technology in the hands of merchants.

Guidelines (requirements is such a strong word):

  Exceptional visual and/or interaction design talent - please include
  a link to portfolio.
  (Intern candidates may link to individual samples of their work
  instead of a portfolio.)
  
  Experience with Adobe Creative Suite, or the ability to learn
  quickly (Omnigraffle or Fireworks a plus)
  
  Expertise in HTML / CSS and Javascript/jQuery, or the ability to learn quickly
  
  Excellent written and verbal skills - not afraid to debate and
  discuss design decisions
  
  Experience with any of the following a plus: wire-framing,
  prototyping, analytics, user research, asset creation, product
  management, branding.

  We know you like to strike your own unique balance. So don't sweat the reqs and just 
  show us what you've got.
  We want you to be able to do what you love, the way you're best able to do it. :)
  

PS: Like most startups, we're always on the lookout for exceptional talent of all sorts. So if you feel you're a particularly strong fit for what we do or how we do it, check out our other descriptions at http://locu.com/jobs/.

-------------------------------------

Founded a year ago by MIT graduates and researchers, Locu (http://www.locu.com/) has the backing and support of some of the best investors in the country. We are looking for more exceptional talent to join our team and help us achieve our vision. We are committed to building a cutting-edge technology giant with a fun and challenging work environment. We have a culture optimized for learning and continuous improvement. We are 19 people with very diverse backgrounds, and growing.

Truthfully, for a kid coming straight out of college, that's not such a terrible question to ask. (No, I didn't get the job. :P) It allows you to start from a totally neutral knowledge position, and lets you see how a person thinks critically about an unorthodox problem - one they almost certainly haven't seen before.

The problem comes when kids start training for such problems, instead of just tackling the sorts of interesting challenges that would inadvertently cause them to approach this question well...

That said, I recognize that such meta discussions can be a little derailing, and I don't want to derail this discussion any further - so I'll just leave it at "let's not be a place that discourages new people from asking questions".

When pg gave a talk while I was at MIT, it was in early October (of 2006 - yikes I'm old), about 2 weeks before apps were due (I didn't get in.)

Apps for this season are due six weeks from now...so I'm guessing the purpose is still to drum up applications, and they're just more on top of their game than they were six years ago.

That said, no one is going to not hand their resume to Google because they spoke to Y Combinator that same week - if anything, it's sort of poor timing, because they're now competing against the companies for attention (who are somewhat restricted as to when they can come to MIT.)

Once I heard this, I realized "Shoot, I contracted her. Am I legally liable for her injuries?" (Fortunately for me, she shrugged it off, and seemed to be covered under some insurance of her own.) And if she had not delivered the furniture due to her broken foot, would TaskRabbit make me look like the bad guy for asking for my money back? (Fortunately again for me, she made the delivery, amazingly.)

While things turned out OK in the end, suddenly the whole service felt much riskier, for both the employee and the consumer - and I felt irritated at TaskRabbit for subjecting me to that risk without some sort of a safety net in place. (Heck, I would have paid extra for one, some sort of "TaskRabbit Insurance.")

I have to say, as much as I dislike the idea of tight regulations on workers, and can see directly how much cheaper my services are removing those regulations...I think next time I'll pay the premium for a more legitimate furniture move, at least, until the law catches up to services like TaskRabbit.

San Francisco, CA - Senior Front-End Engineer at Locu (http://www.locu.com/)

Locu is developing technologies to change local search ($35bn advertising market by 2014) by creating the world's largest semantically-annotated repository of real-time small-business data. We have recently launched Locu (http://www.locu.com/), our first product, which helps restaurants better manage their online presence.

We have more exciting ideas for our data than we have resources to build them. Your job will be to help us change that.

We're looking to hire a Senior Front-End Engineer. Generalists and "desingineers" would also do well in this position, as we have plenty of work to do on those fronts as well - but significant front-end experience is crucial. You should feel comfortable making major front-end architecture decisions and being a company-wide advocate for building intuitive, responsive interfaces that surprise and delight.

Guidelines (requirements is such a strong word):

  4+ years of experience building rich, interactive websites

  Experience leading or managing an engineering team a plus - if you don't have it,
  we'll give you a chance to mentor and grow as an leader.

  Exceptional cross-browser JavaScript/jQuery, HTML and CSS skills. 
  (For better or worse, we fully support IE8 - that's where small business owners are, 
  at least for a little while.) 

  Experience in proper UI engineering, particularly in Javascript. The deeper your JS
  experience, the better. 
  (Framework experience (Backbone, Handlebars, etc) and opinions about when 
  they should and shouldn't be used is a +.)

  Ability to go out of your comfort zone and write a server-side controller if no one 
  else is around is a + 
  (Experience with Python / Django in particular is a ++.)

  A good sense of design and/or an ability to work with designers 
  (We won't make you "design all the things", but being able to draw on past 
  experience designing dashboards and other user interfaces is a +.)
  

  We know you like to strike your own unique balance. So don't sweat the reqs and just 
  show us what you've got.
  We want you to be able to do what you love, the way you're best able to do it. :)
  

PS: Like most startups, we're always on the lookout for exceptional talent of all sorts. So if you feel you're a particularly strong fit for what we do or how we do it, check out our other descriptions at http://www.locu.com/about/jobs/.

-------------------------------------

Founded a year ago by MIT graduates and researchers, Locu (http://www.locu.com/) has the backing and support of some of the best angel investors in the country. We are looking for more exceptional talent to join our team and help us achieve our vision. We are committed to building a cutting-edge technology giant with a fun and challenging work environment. We have a culture optimized for learning and continuous improvement. We are 17 people with very diverse backgrounds, and growing.

The fees look like they come out of nowhere because no cabbie ever explains them...but they don't explain them in large part because they're simply unavoidable. Making it more confusing is the fact that this fee (on the order of $8) is only levied on taxis going out of the airport, not into the airport. Finally, these fees are new, only from within the past few years - so if you've been traveling to Boston recently, you might have noticed a sudden fare increase without knowing why.

Why all of this nonsense with crazy high, one way airport fees? To pay for the Big Dig, of course. (Which, incidentally, made my taxi rides home shorter to the point that my fares dropped more than the price of the fee.)

San Francisco, CA - Senior Full Time Software Engineers at Locu (http://locu.com)

We're looking for all sorts - front-enders, "desingineers", back-enders and full-stack all welcome for this position. As long as you enjoy hacking on cool new products and features. :D

For Back-End

  Deep understanding of algorithms and complexity
  Strong linux system administration experience a plus
  AWS expertise a plus

  Exceptional cross-browser JavaScript/jQuery, HTML and CSS skills
  Experience with Python / Django is a plus
  Previous experience building rich, interactive websites
  A good sense of design and/or an ability to work with designers
  Experience in designing dashboards and user interfaces is a plus
  Experience in proper UI engineering and reusable architectures a plus
  (proper use of prototypes in JS, experience with Backbone, and what have you.)

  We know you like to strike your own unique balance. So, show us what you've got.
  We want you to be able to do what you love. :)

  Ideally 4+ years of experience
  Experience leading or managing an engineering team a plus
  - we'll give you a chance to mentor and grow as an leader.
  Exceptional software engineering talent
  Previous start-up experience is a plus

Interested? Drop us a line at jobs@locu.com. Please specify which position you're applying for, as well as "HN", in the subject of your letter. Learn more about our open positions at http://locu.com/jobs/

-------------------------------------

Founded less than a year ago by MIT graduates and researchers, Locu (http://www.locu.com/) has the backing and support of some of the best angel investors in the country. We are looking for more exceptional talent to join our team and help us achieve our vision. We are committed to building a cutting-edge technology giant with a fun and challenging work environment. We have a culture optimized for learning and continuous improvement. We are 10 people with very diverse backgrounds, and growing.

If you're someone that Google has decided is an "up", I highly doubt Google is going to let these people go so easily. These people are already being aggressively retained with bonuses and the like.

If you're an "out", well, by definition Yahoo won't be that interested.

And the "ups" that "became outs", so to speak, are people who are of such strong personal conviction that they turned down gobs of money in 2007 from Google to, say, take a riskier position at Facebook or do their own thing. In those cases, it's unlike more gobs of money from Yahoo in 2012 will convince them to jump ship, unless Marissa can offer things to recruits that she couldn't offer to recruits at Google. (This seems unlikely - there was little Google couldn't offer the APMs it lost.)

San Francisco, CA - Senior Full Time Software Engineers at Locu (http://www.locu.com)

We're looking for all sorts - front-enders, "desingineers", back-enders and full-stack all welcome for this position. As long as you enjoy hacking on cool new products and features. :D

For Back-End

# Deep understanding of algorithms and complexity # Strong linux system administration experience a plus # AWS expertise a plus

For Front-End

# Exceptional cross-browser JavaScript/jQuery, HTML and CSS skills # Experience with Python / Django is a plus # Previous experience building rich, interactive websites # A good sense of design and/or an ability to work with designers # Experience in designing dashboards and user interfaces is a plus # Experience in proper UI engineering and reusable architectures a plus (proper use of prototypes in Javascript, experience with Backbone, and what have you.)

For Full-Stack and Desingineers

# We know you like to strike your own unique balance. So, show us what you've got. We want you to be able to do what you love. :)

For all

# Ideally 4+ years of experience # Experience leading or managing an engineering team a plus - we'll give you a chance to mentor and grow as an leader. # Exceptional software engineering talent # Previous start-up experience is a plus

Locu is developing technologies to change local search ($35bn advertising market by 2014) by creating the world's largest semantically-annotated repository of real-time small-business data. We are about to launch MenuPlatform <http://www.menuplatform.com>, our first product, which helps restaurants better manage their online presence.

Interested? Drop us a line at jobs@locu.com. Please specify which position you're applying for, as well as "HN", in the subject of your letter. Learn more about our open positions at http://www.locu.com/#Jobs

-------------------------------------

Founded less than a year ago by MIT graduates and researchers, Locu (http://www.locu.com/) has the backing and support of some of the best angel investors in the country.

We are looking for more exceptional talent to join our team and help us achieve our vision. We are committed to building a cutting-edge technology giant with a fun and challenging work environment. We have a culture optimized for learning and continuous improvement. We are 10 people with very diverse backgrounds, and growing.

San Francisco, CA - Full Time or Intern Web Developer at Locu (http://www.locu.com)

Front-enders, "desingineers" and full-stack all welcome for this position - as long as you enjoy hacking on cool new products and features. :D (We're not explicitly recruiting for pure backend or pure design positions right now, but we're open to resumes there as well - see http://locu.com/#jobs for details. If you're a perfect fit, we'll find a way to make it work.)

# Exceptional software engineering talent

# Exceptional cross-browser JavaScript/jQuery, HTML and CSS skills, or the ability to learn quickly

# Experience with Python / Django is a plus

# Previous experience building rich, interactive websites

# Basic design skills (Photoshop), ability to work with designers

# Experience in designing dashboards and user interfaces is a plus

# Previous start-up experience is a plus

Locu is developing technologies to change local search ($35bn advertising market by 2014) by creating the world's largest semantically-annotated repository of real-time small-business data. We are about to launch MenuPlatform <http://www.menuplatform.com>, our first product, which helps restaurants better manage their online presence.

Interested? Drop us a line at jobs@locu.com. Please specify which position you're applying for, as well as "HN", in the subject of your letter. Learn more about our open positions at http://www.locu.com/#Jobs

-------------------------------------

Founded less than a year ago by MIT graduates and researchers, Locu (http://www.locu.com/) has the backing and support of some of the best angel investors in the country.

We are looking for more exceptional talent to join our team and help us achieve our vision. We are committed to building a cutting-edge technology giant with a fun and challenging work environment. We have a culture optimized for learning and continuous improvement. We are 10 people with very diverse backgrounds, and growing.

Similarly, see the recent rise in virtualized dev environments (VMware, Virtual Box, etc.)

The Linux laptops with the penguin stickers are disappearing from the hackathons because its easier to decouple work from play than it ever used to be - and when you're done coding for the day, you can just fire up Chrome and surf Facebook like the other 99% of the internet.