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There is an occasional event that happens to me while on HN where I see a title that catches my eye because it rings a certain bell in my mind. I click through
by travisfischer 12y ago
There is an occasional event that happens to me while on HN where I see a title that catches my eye because it rings a certain bell in my mind. I click through the link and as the page loads my stomach fills with butterflies as I experience the strange sensation of finding another person has implemented an idea of "mine", at times with frightening accuracy with regards to how I conceived of it.
I use "mine" because obviously the idea is not mine. It's an idea I'm sure hundreds of us of have had.
This particular site/product was one I "dreamed up" immediately after a very disappointing interview performance. The sting of that experience made me want to fix it for other people by giving them a clear path for being prepared for "Google-esque" interviews. This particular implementation looks to be fairly well executed. I signed up and hope it works out because I think it could be useful.
What these experiences confirm for me is something we all already know. There are really no new ideas under the sun. Or at least they are very, very rare. Just pick a problem you know you can solve and then solve it the best way you possibly know how and if your best is better than anyone elses best, and it's a good idea, and the timing is right, you'll probably be successful.
On another note, I think it's interesting the creator choose the "2 egg problem" as the example problem. I believe it is the prime example of everything that is wrong with engineering interview culture. Not sure if that makes it ideal material for a site like this or pointless trivia.
- Zaheer 12y agoI previously had this idea as well: www.InterTechTion.com Started taking up a lot of time though and stopped sending emails a while back.
- mahmud 12y agoHow did you come up with that name? "InterTechTion" sounds and looks horrible to me. Almost like it could be a defunct semi-conductor manufacturer from the 80s.
- quadrature 12y agosounds like he wanted "tech education" in there or something.
- psychometry 12y agoThat or the company formed by the merger of Initech and Intertrode.
- Zaheer 12y agoLol it was my first domain and I didn't have much insight into creating a good name: [Inter]view [Tech]nical Ques[Tion]
- EpicDavi 12y agoIt looks/sounds more aesthetically pleasing without the capitals: Intertechtion.com
- mynameisvlad 12y agoInterTechQuest would have been better, I'd think.
- JetSpiegel 12y agoFor a sci-fi MMO, perhaps.
- soham 12y agoI'm trying to see if a bootcamp angle to this works in the valley: http://interviewkickstart.com http://interviewkickstart.com . My only revenues are from people paying to come for practice with some very good teachers/interviewers. I help them thru their job search afterwards, but don't take any placement revenue from anywhere. That helps me advice the candidates (and the companies) in a neutral, truthful way, without conflicts of interest. Candidates like that and that's maybe one reason why my batches are going full. I've poured myself into making this successful. Fingers crossed for the future. All ears for suggestions and advice.
- jeangenie 12y agoInteresting idea.