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You'll Get a Cow if You Work at This Company
- frankdenbow 15y agoridiculous
- bradleyland 15y agoIs it? You know what I hear from developers a lot? "I make enough money. I'm interested in solving interesting problems and working with interesting people." So Amicus gives a small-ish amount of cash (relative to other signing bonuses I've seen), but ties in several other perks that say a lot about company culture. Each of their ideas says something about the company: Counter Culture coffee - I didn't know anything about this brand before seeing this listing, but it appears their focus is sustainability and education. Donated dairy cow - I've heard of this one before, and another similar program with goats. More "responsible world citizen" action. Gym memberships - Combined with other items on the perk list, it appears that Amicus wants to provide you the opportunity to live a balanced life that includes fitness. iPad 2 - Ostensibly for "prototyping", but really a statement that they want to provide you with tools that allow you to work while comfortable. More balance. Iron Man Helmet - Manditory for all company events, I'm assuming. This is just fun! Unlimited beer - The statement here is that the company is laid back and trusts you to do the responsible thing. Fixie bike - Hipster fantastic, but who are we to judge? It reinforces the fitness/balance statement.
- frankdenbow 15y agoAmicus is a set of good people. Just being snarky
- sethbannon 15y agobradleyland we couldn't have put it better ourselves!
- synnik 15y agoYes, it is ridiculous. They are ensuring that they get people who are interesting... and all the exact same flavor of interesting. It feels juvenile, even if they intended it sincerely. Maybe they are find people, and maybe it is a fine company. I have no way of knowing. But this approach does not appeal to me, personally because is feels like it is trying too hard.
- sethbannon 15y agoWe think it's possible to work hard, make an impact, and still be playful while doing so. That approach might not be for everyone but we certainly love it!
- pluies_public 15y agoMaybe. But yet, they managed to let thousands of programmers to know that they're hiring. The cow might just be a gimmick (and let's face it, you can't do more hipsterish than the fixed-gear bike), but it's pretty awesome guerrilla marketing.
- pnathan 15y agohonestly, this is one of the most memorable job postings I've ever seen. a cow. seriously.
- randomdata 15y agoI was just a little disappointed to find they weren't really giving a cow. I have a barn she can stay in and everything.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- robinwarren 15y agoawesome
- dfriedmn 15y agoWe need more companies with real business models focused on solving social problems. I couldn't be more excited about this rising crop of "do well by doing good" companies. I expect big things from Amicus.
- natesm 15y agoOk, so what is the appeal of fixed gear bikes? They can't be that good for exercising/fun, it seems like not being able to shift would make riding sloooow anywhere that isn't Kansas.
- Wilduck 15y agoI don't own one and I didn't get it at first, but after riding one I definitely saw some of the appeal. They are very fun to ride in a "I'm totally connected to this bike" sort of way. If you also take off the hand brake, then there's an added element of fun (and terror) because you're using the same mechanism to go and to stop. There's a sort of minimalist joy in the experience. Really, if you get a chance, ride one for a bit. They're not super practical on hills, but they work surprisingly well because they're so light.
- schwabacher 15y agoI agree, they are pretty fun. To go fast, you have to pedal fast. It makes it feel like you are going REALLY fast. That said, I wouldn't want to ride one as my only bike.
- aplusbi 15y agoThey give you an incredible amount of control and balance at slow speeds, which is often useful for city riding. They are also really fun in a way that is hard to explain (at least without sounding really pretentious). Plus they are required for track racing, which is also fun for completely different reasons.
- mattangriffel 15y agoThe real reason for getting a fixed gear bike is that there are less parts to maintain. They don't have all those gears so they can be much lighter. They also tend to not break as often. The downside is that you don't get the advantage of being able to switch gears, which tends to not matter in cities like Manhattan because there aren't many hills and you never reach high speeds for long stretches anyway. On top of that there's an aesthetic aspect to the simplicity. I tend to find them really beautiful in a post-modern art kind of way.
- pelemele 15y ago1999, is that you?
- jaredstenquist 15y agoI was really hoping this startup was actually giving the developers a cow - not donating to an organization that donates livestock (including cows) to hunger stricken areas of the world. I have donated to the Heifer project before, but never saw "my cow". Regardless of that, it's a great organization. Amicus on the other hand is great at getting news sites to write misleading titles about them.
- pault 15y agoCows are nature's job creators.
- Tyrant505 15y agoYou lost me at dairy cow.. :(
- pavel_lishin 15y ago"empowers non-profits and political campaigns to leverage the social networks of their supporters to raise more money, attract more members, and win more votes" To me, it sounds like their product will be a Facebook app that'll ask permission (I hope) to spam my friends.
- sethbannon 15y agoYou can check out our demo at http://amicushq.com/ http://amicushq.com/ if you'd like to see what our product does.
- Timothee 15y agoMaybe I'm just getting old and uptight but I find things like "unlimited amount of beer" to be a real turn-off. It has a feel of immaturity. "Yeah, let's get drunk! Woohoo!" Really? It's not the first job ad where I see something along these lines. Sure it tells me that the culture is probably laid-back, but depending on how it's phrased, it can be sound very juvenile.
- Sodel 15y agoWhat's more, the prospect of once again working with a company that prides itself on unlimited beer is horrifying. At my old job, we worked with a certain game development company at the behest of a larger publisher. They also had recently relocated... to an office directly above a pub with their own brewery. On the one hand, I have a hard time believing that our bitter jokes were true, and that they actually were perpetually wasted; on the other hand, even just getting responses from them was a bit of an ordeal -- never mind getting even acknowledgement of the bugs that prevented us from continuing with our side of the "partnership". Not the most professional folk, and I can't see how the beer would help. In the interest of not repeating that experience, I'd certainly want positive evidence that the unlimited beer didn't impede the company's performance or professionalism before I'd work with a company that prided itself on offering unlimited beer.
- jrockway 15y agoI like a beer to relax with coworkers after most of the workday is over. If I have one every day, that's 260 beers a year. Let's say it's good beer and we are buying in bulk, so each bottle costs $2. That's $520 a year for just one person. On a 10-person team where everyone has a couple beers each night, you'd be spending $10,400 on beer, which is a benefit worth mentioning. You're not going to be drunk from two beers, either, so if you drink at work instead of going to a bar, a little more work has the opportunity to be done. All in all, a nice benefit for everyone. If you don't drink alcohol, I'm sure they'll buy you an unlimited amount of Perrier or energy drinks or whatever else you want.
- sethbannon 15y agoWe do indeed, jrockway. If you'd like honest tea instead, you can have it.
- jamescropcho 15y agoan organization's culture should drip from every pore, just like the sweat that builds its products and services. In the end, it's about effectiveness, and I predict this move will get Amicus in touch with more compatible candidates, than simply writing a large check.
- sethbannon 15y agoThanks James, we agree!
- asciimo 15y ago* No vegan, recovering alcoholic, or mobility-impaired applicants, please.
- rguzman 15y agothis type of job-listing is ridiculous. not because it is juvenile or the sort of a thing that may be indicative of a bubble, but rather, because it is condescending. in the job market, there are two things i'd like to trade for my skills and time: dollars and equity. i also appreciate and put value on a company having a nice office to work at and that they have a laid-back culture, but they can just say that. i don't need them to buy me my beer or coffee to "signal" that they are hip, i'd rather have the cash and pick my beer when i want to get drunk. i also don't need them to "signal" that they are green by buying me a bike -- i'd rather have them tell me that they care about that and what things do they do as a company to be green. in general, all these things companies do to "signal" culture strike me as stupid. just say what you value and have your important actions reflect it.
- sethbannon 15y agoSome startups prefer developers who are looking for more than just dollars and equity. While important, those are certainly not the only things that motivate us. We're in this because we want to reshape civil society through innovation, and because we're having the time of our lives doing so. Better to have teammates with similar motivations, and not those driven simply by the bottom line.
- rguzman 15y agothat's a fair point, but also tangential. i think research shows that people are not motivated by money. people also don't eat money. but money is the best way to buy food -- and also the best way to buy people's time and skills. picking where you work has a lot of dimensions, such as work-life balance, location, what impact the company is having, and on and on... a startup wants to attract people who are compatible with the things they value. that's what "being a good fit" means -- that's your point. however, i still don't see the need to do that by offering beer. it seems much better to be clear about the things you as a company care about and expect/ask the same from people you hire.
- synnik 15y agoThe fact that you keep jumping in and defending yourself after every negative comment makes you look like you are seriously lacking confidence. Nobody is questioning that you believe in what you do and are doing well at it, and enjoying your work. What we are questioning is your methods. Let me put it into perspective (my perspective): If you want to donate $2000 dollars to heifer.org for each employee, just do it. Don't put it in my name. I have my own charities, and would prefer to make my own choice. Don't buy me a bike. I am disabled and that perk just slaps me in the face with it. Don't buy me beer. I do not drink, and find the implication that drinking is required for your culture to be a little creepy. Don't say that I am getting $2000 for R&D. That is pocket change for true R&D, and makes me worry that not only do you not handle budgets well, but that the companies future innovation funding could get messed up in HR negotiations. The bottom line is that most of your perks scare me. Not because there is anything wrong with offering them, but because it shows a severe lack of empathy for the diversity of people in this world.
- hello_moto 15y agoI'm a little bit confused with this "trend": http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57324275-93/work-with-the-cool-kids-culture-is-a-weapon-in-2011s-hiring-battle/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57324275-93/work-with-the-c... Look at the design of the site and the buttons and the "weird" offers: http://jobs.scopely.com/ http://jobs.scopely.com/ http://jobs.usehipster.com/ http://jobs.usehipster.com/ http://jobs.amicushq.com/ http://jobs.amicushq.com/ Is this produced by a new web service that creates a cool job advertisement?
- blhack 15y agoThese are all almost identical too. They use the same photo of the bike.
- ovi256 15y agoWow, great catch. My guess is it's the same designer that did the three pages, sharing the concept and 80% of the implementation. Was that OK with the clients, I wonder ?
- gergles 15y ago> Scopely isn't looking for people that don't get the joke. No, I get the joke. I just don't think it's funny. There's a big difference, and I think the startups that are using this gimmick need to think really hard about who exactly they are targeting with these things, because it sure does seem to me to be people who value style over substance.
- csytan 15y agoLooks like they were made by these guys: http://blue-fusion.com/ http://blue-fusion.com/
- fennecfoxen 15y agoAt my office, we have a couple of old BMX bikes that were picked up at garage sales, including one spray-painted blue and white with a small Star of David awkwardly inscribed on the front with a Sharpie and the words "East Side" scratched out on the tube. We ride the bikes around the office because it's like 8 guys in a 3000+ square-foot warehouse (and because we've camped out in the good offices, but those aren't quite near the restroom). I didn't get a cow when I started. Instead we got an office convection oven. I bake bread in it from time to time, though it's actually proved more popular for lunchtime frozen pizzas. There's also a panini press. Today our CEO brought in turkey soup leftovers and some ribs. (We're hiring, but mostly looking for a really good computer vision guy at the moment: http://www.nearbuysystems.com/company/vision http://www.nearbuysystems.com/company/vision )
- jrockway 15y agoI'd prefer to spend my signing bonus however I like.
- mkramlich 15y agoSo if they hire you they'll ... wait for it ... give you money, plus, some other trinkets you could have just bought with money yourself. Hmmmmm. Put me down as preferring to get either just money, or, things I can't get already with money. easily. But don't make purchasing decisions for me. I may have better things I could spend money on.
- terrellm 15y agoSort of backwards to my company Cattlesoft where we prefer our employees to already have their own cows before coming to work for us. We develop software for the cattle industry and have had far better luck with hiring people who own cattle or grew up on a ranch as they better relate to our customers. Of course hiring someone who has their own cattle herd means they can't easily pick up and move to our location so we all work from our own ranches and keep in contact via Campfire and Skype.
- pault 15y agoI have two pygmy goats, is that close enough?