Most CS undergrads hope to get a good job when they graduate. But as the age of startup founders creeps downward, I foresee an alternative path for the most ambitious: instead of going to work for Microsoft, start a startup and make Microsoft buy it to get you.This change will do more than make some young hackers richer. It will fuse recruitment with product development. Instead of applying for a job and then being told what to work on, you join the company as a complete development team, with a beta version. Results: (a) a shift in power from companies to hackers, and (b) an increase in the rate at which new technology gets developed.
Obviously this new model will be a better deal for the best hackers. But I think it will also be better for the Microsofts. The few tens of millions extra that they’ll pay will be a bargain for what they’ll get.
KC on April 30th, 2005 at 9:32 am
Some of the concept makes sense, they’d essentially be paying a premium on the product due to the reduced risk involved.
Tom on May 2nd, 2005 at 7:17 am
I still theink that the Big boys will hire fresh grads and here is why. Big companies like fres grads or (freshers) because they usually have no family and have no other responsabilities. These freshers are expected to work long hours. When I was a fresher I started at Mototorla. I was expected to pull 70 + hour weeks so that the other with families could go home. Sure I learned a lot but I got burned out. This is how it works in the software world. Your first job out of college you get burned then you move on to something else.
Also…. There are a lot of smaller companies that need help. Everyone depnds on computers now and not everyone has an IT staff. There are opportunities where one could work for several smaller companies and be the only IT staff. You could fill in your downtime by taking projects from guru.com or rentacoder.com.
The plain fact is that companies of all sizes will be looking for IT staff code must be maintained/enhanced and you will always need a grunt to do it.