Tech articles in last week's paper

[Joe Herbers]

There were a series of articles on the local tech scene in last Sunday's Enquirer. Some interesting stuff including the following excerpt. They had profiles with pics of people you might know.

"Josh Fendley, founder of Ample Design, has hired staffers from the East and West coasts to handle growing demand for a coding language called Ruby on Rails. It’s the platform on which Twitter and Hulu were built, ideal for social media sites that require frequent updates and can’t spare any downtime. Because the language hasn’t been adopted on a wide scale by large businesses, especially those locally, few Ruby on Rails developers exist in this region, Fendley says. He expects demand to continue to grow, and that he’ll continue grabbing talent from elsewhere."

Help wanted: Tech companies searching for talent
Talent: They have the tech skills companies are looking for

http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/tag/talent/

[Ben Stafford]

So, I can't say that I'm *super* plugged into the startup scene in
Cincinnati, but I like to think I have at least a little insight.
Whenever I hear about this lack of tech talent in Cincinnati, my gut
reaction is that it's an excuse used by the non-tech folks as to why
they're having a hard time getting things started here. To me, it
seems that there is plenty of talent around and while there are
usually opportunities around, it doesn't seem like there is an over
abundance of them.

Not to single out Ample, since they're a great group of folks, but as
they were quoted in the article - I haven't seen them soliciting/
recruiting recently.

So, is it really a problem? Is this a chicken/egg scenario where the
tech talent is hiding in "stable" jobs at big companies so it is hard
to find? Are local developers not intrigued by the work that local
startups are coming up with? Are local startups just not looking in
the right places locally, or do they think they can only find the
"superstar" talent on the coasts since that's what they see coast-
based startsup finding? Are local investors out of the loop as well
such that they don't know where to look?

On Mar 17, 6:50 pm, Joe Herbers <joe.herb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There were a series of articles on the local tech scene in last Sunday's
> Enquirer. Some interesting stuff including the following excerpt. They had
> profiles with pics of people you might know.
>
> "Josh Fendley, founder of Ample Design, has hired staffers from the East

> and West coasts to handle growing demand for a coding language called *Ruby
> on Rails*. It’s the platform on which Twitter and Hulu were built, ideal

> for social media sites that require frequent updates and can’t spare any
> downtime. Because the language hasn’t been adopted on a wide scale by large
> businesses, especially those locally, few Ruby on Rails developers exist in
> this region, Fendley says. He expects demand to continue to grow, and that
> he’ll continue grabbing talent from elsewhere."
>
> Help wanted: Tech companies searching for

> talent<http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/2012/03/11/talent-main/>

> Talent: They have the tech skills companies are looking

> for<http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/2012/03/11/talent-they-have-the-tec...>
>
> http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/tag/talent/

[Alan Audette]

I think the bigger question is, if all this is true (and I definitely believe that it is), what are we, the local tech community, going to do about it? If there is one kind of problem developers like solving, it's the chicken & egg.

Sent from my iPhone

[Troy Davis]

Hi Everyone,

I've worked with 3 startups over the last 5 years, and I've hired developers on many occasions for these startups. My experience has been that most developers here in Cincinnati are enthusiastic about the idea of working with a startup, it has a certain romance to it, I suppose. But most of these developers are too risk averse to make the jump. It's sort of like kids wanting to be pirates, they dream of being Jack Sparrow, with sword fights on the deck of the Flying Dutchman. But of course the reality of life as a Somali pirate riding in cheap fishing boats and capturing tankers with the threat of homemade molotov cocktails isn't quite as romantic...

I also know a decent number of people in the local startup community, and I usually get one or two requests per week where somebody is looking for developers for a new startup. The demand really exists, and they're looking locally first in most cases. It's a pretty serious problem from what I can tell, especially for CTO positions.

Going to the coasts to find developers is the nuclear option. It's just too expensive for most of the folks in our area, and too risky. Only as a final act of desperation. Some try outsourcing instead, but the failure rate might be even higher, so that's not a desirable scenario either.

In terms of this being a chicken and egg problem that developers typically love to solve, I'm not so sure. Yes, there are some startups with silly concepts out there. But I rarely see developers suggesting better concepts or improvements to the ideas. Meanwhile, there are plenty of well-thought-out business plans that can't get off the ground because of the inability to attract a few decent developers.

I'd love to discuss this in more depth, I have a feeling that there might be something that could be done to improve this situation. But email isn't a very good substitute for a group of people discussing it in person. Anyone interested enough to attend a meetup focused on this topic?

Thanks!
Troy

[Michael Guterl]

I'll bite. Replies inline.

On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 12:51 PM, Troy Davis <ethe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I've worked with 3 startups over the last 5 years, and I've hired developers on many occasions for these startups. My experience has been that most developers here in Cincinnati are enthusiastic about the idea of working with a startup, it has a certain romance to it, I suppose. But most of these developers are too risk averse to make the jump. It's sort of like kids wanting to be pirates, they dream of being Jack Sparrow, with sword fights on the deck of the Flying Dutchman. But of course the reality of life as a Somali pirate riding in cheap fishing boats and capturing tankers with the threat of homemade molotov cocktails isn't quite as romantic...
>

It appears to me that startups on the coasts go the extra mile to
attract talent, something I haven't seen many local companies do. I
could be completely wrong here, but what is portrayed is far from
cheap fishing boats.

Here are some bullet points from the most recent posting (an
early-stage startup in San Fran) in my RSS:

* Home-cooked meals daily by our gracious, Cordon Bleu trained chef.
Also, weekly dinners serve plenty of wine and pasta and metaphysical
debate.
* Competitive compensation, full benefits, and relocation assistance.
* We will build your ultimate engineer setup! Your setup will include
dual monitors (including a 30") and whatever desktop or laptop you so
desire.

This sounds more like Jack Sparrow than Somali pirates to me, but I
could be completely wrong.

> I also know a decent number of people in the local startup community, and I usually get one or two requests per week where somebody is looking for developers for a new startup. The demand really exists, and they're looking locally first in most cases. It's a pretty serious problem from what I can tell, especially for CTO positions.
>
> Going to the coasts to find developers is the nuclear option. It's just too expensive for most of the folks in our area, and too risky. Only as a final act of desperation. Some try outsourcing instead, but the failure rate might be even higher, so that's not a desirable scenario either.
>
> In terms of this being a chicken and egg problem that developers typically love to solve, I'm not so sure. Yes, there are some startups with silly concepts out there. But I rarely see developers suggesting better concepts or improvements to the ideas. Meanwhile, there are plenty of well-thought-out business plans that can't get off the ground because of the inability to attract a few decent developers.
>

I'm shocked that you rarely see developers suggesting better concepts
or improvements to ideas. I've met very few developers who don't have
an opinion on how to make things better. In fact, developers are some
of the most opinionated individuals I know.

> I'd love to discuss this in more depth, I have a feeling that there might be something that could be done to improve this situation. But email isn't a very good substitute for a group of people discussing it in person.  Anyone interested enough to attend a meetup focused on this topic?
>

Those are just some of my thoughts on why local companies are
struggling to attract talent. I have some more controversial things
to say about the situation, but I'll save that for a time when the
discussion takes place in person.

I think it's important for startup founders to realize that it is a
two-way street. As a developer we're taking a risk to come work for
you, just as you're taking a risk by employing any of us.

Best,
Michael Guterl

[Doug Alcorn]

I'd love to have this conversation in person. Too much I just hang out
with other ruby devs and not as much with business devs.

I believe this Tuesday night is our meeting. I'm not 100% sure of the
topic planned, but this is timely. We should discuss this in more
detail.

Doug Alcorn
(513) 295-2844

[Chris Nelson]

Hey all,

First off, I think this is a great conversation and is a topic that is very near and dear to me.  Thanks for getting it started, Joe.

One of my personal goals we we started Gaslight was to be able to partner with local tech ventures and succeed together.  We haven't seen that happen to nearly the degree I would have hoped.  A lot of our best clients have been in Silicon Valley, and I've often been surprised by this.  It seems sadly ironic to continue to hear that startups here feel like they need to go to SF/SV to find good developers, when good developers here often seem to need to go out of town to find excellent opportunities.

After starting to type a really long winded email about why I think this is, I think a blog post is a better medium.  I'll post a link when I finish it.  But I'm very interested in any other thoughts on the topic and would love to talk about this at Cincinnati RB tuesday night.

--Chris

[Josh Fendley]

FWIW, I was misquoted by Laura. I said Rails talent is hard to find in
Cincy and easier to find on the coasts. This much is very true. We've
not actually hired people outside of Cincy. We have resorted to
training talented devs that want to learn and it has paid off. I think
the key is good training.

On a side note, please read this article and let me know what you
think.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/03/ruby_ruby_on_rails_and__why_the_disappearance_of_one_of_the_world_s_most_beloved_computer_programmers_.single.html

On Mar 17, 6:50 pm, Joe Herbers <joe.herb...@gmail.com> wrote:

> There were a series of articles on the local tech scene in last Sunday's
> Enquirer. Some interesting stuff including the following excerpt. They had
> profiles with pics of people you might know.
>
> "Josh Fendley, founder of Ample Design, has hired staffers from the East

> and West coasts to handle growing demand for a coding language called *Ruby
> on Rails*. It’s the platform on which Twitter and Hulu were built, ideal

> for social media sites that require frequent updates and can’t spare any
> downtime. Because the language hasn’t been adopted on a wide scale by large
> businesses, especially those locally, few Ruby on Rails developers exist in
> this region, Fendley says. He expects demand to continue to grow, and that
> he’ll continue grabbing talent from elsewhere."
>
> Help wanted: Tech companies searching for

> talent<http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/2012/03/11/talent-main/>

> Talent: They have the tech skills companies are looking

> for<http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/2012/03/11/talent-they-have-the-tec...>
>
> http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/tag/talent/

[Alan Audette]

I'm definitely in. We have a very strong tech community here in Cincinnati, even if rails talent is sparse. As a good friend pointed out to me recently, "newbie" is a transitional label. 

The other thing to think about is that we have 3 top-notch business schools in our own back yard in Lindner, Williams, and Farmer, one of which I am an alumn. I think Cincinnati's startup potential is high, and I've never understood why it doesn't live up to that potential. I think we just we just need someone to take the bull by horns and make it happen.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jim Weirich]

On Mar 18, 2012, at 4:33 PM, Josh Fendley wrote:

> On a side note, please read this article and let me know what you
> think.
> http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/03/ruby_ruby_on_rails_and__why_the_disappearance_of_one_of_the_world_s_most_beloved_computer_programmers_.single.html

Thanks for pointing out the article. Annie (the author of that piece) attended RubyConf last year, and I was hoping to see the fruits of her labor.

--
-- Jim Weirich
-- jim.w...@gmail.com

[Chris Nelson]

I don't think rails talent is sparse, necessarily.  But I look forward to discussing that in person :)

--Chris