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The great technical swindle 
lcerveau@nephorider.com, 
lcerveau@mmyneta.com
This talk will be 
• Not always mincing words 
• From both manager ,consultant, and 
engineering side 
• Borrow from other talks I did 
• Less cynical than you may think after hearing it
So you have a great idea 
• You see all this entrepreneur ecosystem 
• Better move by yourself than wait for the train 
• You are sure you have identified something that 
could be a business 
• But to do it….
….You need a software engineer
Let’s put an ad! 
“I have this great idea and I have a great background in 
well known business or political school. You know Ruby 
on Holy Grail, love hacking since the age of 2, and feel 
comfortable walking on The Mission? Do you want to be 
my CTO, no salary intended but you’ll get a generous 2% 
of shares” 
“PS:if you’re not all of those, do not even talk to us”
Except that 
• You know in fact nothing about what 
programming is, except what you say to your 
peers 
• You would tend to engineering is deterministic 
because it means somewhere science 
• A few years ago you certainly you would not 
have chosen an engineer career 
• May have committed already for a demo
So let’s find our way 
• Understand the “cool dude hacker” marketplace 
• Swim in the land recruiting 
• Evaluating people and build a team 
• Manage a team of nerds
The market is statistical!
This guy that will save your life 
Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777-1855 
German mathematician known also as 
“Princeps mathematicorum” 
“
Whatever happens, the limit says 
The vast majority is average
Conclusions (round 1) 
• Getting the good ones is difficult 
• Doing recruiting mistakes will happen 
• Your hopes will make you judge to fast
What your emotional bias will tell you 
Perception 
“I am so lucky I have 
seen only good people”
But isn’t there more people on the market? 
• There are also more projects. So the match may 
even be harder 
• Statistically you may change a little bit some 
gaussian parameters 
• But you will not change very much in a relative 
way. However certainly more positive effect than 
negative
In a world of technical demand…
Conclusions (round 2) 
• People will be expensive. This is the market law 
• If you pay too cheap, there is likely something 
not clear 
• You can expect a high level of bullshit
Cultural reptilian brain 
Marketing 
Sales 
Product 
Engineer 
QA 
OK I can go in cocktails 
Do not go outside of the room
Times are changing 
Marketing 
Sales Engineer 
QA 
Product
Should it be? 
Engineer 
QA 
Product 
Marketing Sales
Recruiting
Parameters for a search 
• How to search : direct, word of mouth, recruiter, 
interns and students? 
• Type to search: Contractor or employee? 
• Who to search: junior or senior?
1 books to read
Really? 
• I have no connection to the author, Mr Joel Spolsky, 
but he has done a few thing in his life :-) 
• This book is the only one that should be read before 
hiring developers. All is here! 
• It can be read in a couple of hours, so re-read it 
regularly
In a few words 
• Good people are not on the market because 
they already can do what they want 
• Smart does not mean Get things done. You need 
the 2. 
• Not being a jerk is optional 
• Be factual in job interviews
Parameters 
Senior 
Employee Contractor 
Junior
Contractor/Employee 
• When hiring a contractor especially senior, be 
clear on the expectation “I pay you not only to 
do a task but possibly to lay down foundations” 
• Confidentiality and discretion with employees is 
required. Stay in your role, on both sides. 
• Plan the conditions of contract ending from the 
start 
• Good ones are expensive really 
• Be prepared to end fast, and from both sides
Contractor/Employee 
• Think about building a team. Refer to the 
Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. 
• Decide what should be your team level. Never 
forget: simple arithmetic counts. The “level” of 
your team may not be the “level” of the “best” 
employee. 
• Employees talk (wages, opinion on decisions): 
be fair all the time and explain it
Senior/Junior 
• Is able to speak to you in English/French 
• Does not equal years of experience 
• Will write “bad code” to meet a goal AND come 
back to it 
• Knows the boundary of his knowledge
Senior/Junior 
• Tells you about how he knows technologies, and 
may know more words than a senior 
• Will systematically explain you why? 
• Will never warn in advance that he has 
difficulties 
• Believe 2 years makes you a senior
In no case, differences are in 
“what technology do you know”
Decide according to your business 
• When will technic become an asset of the 
enterprise. Should it really? 
• Do not think money. Think investment: cheap shoes 
must be re-bought every two months
How to? 
• Words of mouth and “personal contact” is IMHO 
the best. But be careful of “clans” and “biases” 
• Using recruiters implies more cost, but with the 
hope of less time 
• The recruiter problem: how to reduce the signal 
to noise ratio? Do not forget, they have people to 
be hired. But if the SN ratio gets higher they may 
become precious allies.
The “rock star” effect 
• Fashion and appearance 
• Buzz words : agile, hackers, San Fransisco, 
since he was a 9 months old 
• Has worked for “XXXX”? Ask him what he 
learned from it (and be prepared to be 
disappointed by answers) 
• Be careful of impresario recruiters 
The fact is that you will want it also: appearance is king
Contractor 
Price 
Pay for Insurance 
Pay for standard engineers 
Pay for code writers 
Pay for arms 
(Paris 2014) 
1500 €/day 
850 €/day 
200 €/day 
Pay for software product doers 
450 €/day
Employee 
• Price varies from region 
Junior startup Paris 38/45K€ 
Junior Consulting/Big Company 
Paris or East Europe startup 
(Germany, Switzerland neighbors) 
42K€/50K€+ Bonus 
Junior Well known Startup SFO 90k/100K+stock 
Junior Gross Boite SFO 100K-115K+stock
Practical 
• What you pay is what you get 
• Ask someone to teach you job interview and 
practice. Write scenarios, find exercises 
• See a maximum of people to train yourself. Do 
not wait that you have a need 
• It takes always a few months to see the reality of 
someone you have recruited
Evaluating
1 books to read
2 axis 
Dreyfus model of skill acquisitions 
Technical Area
Technical Competences 
• Changes over time. C++ is not fashion anymore. 
• Can be learned if needed. Not a blocker (Rails 
versus Django or how does HTTP work) 
• Have a context (iOS 5 years ago versus now has 
changed a lot)
Technical Competences (2) 
• Also very sensitive to fashion effect 
• Good varnish when one knows nothing 
• Ok you get it : this can means not a lot
Dreyfus model 
• Developper by 2 brothers (Stuart and Hubert) in the 
1980 
• Models of skill acquisition and mastering 
• 5 levels from Novice to expert. They see the world in 
different ways 
• Per skills model 
• Times plays a role in the sens that you can’t get 
faster than you think but time will not make you 
cross the levels
Dreyfus model 
Expert Expert work from intuition 
Proficient Proficient practitioner can self correct 
Competent Competent can troubleshoot 
Advanced 
beginners 
Advanced beginners don’t want the big picture 
Novices Novices wants recipes
Influences of the 2 axis 
One thing to remember : someone has a technical 
knowledge as good as her/his Dreyfus level
Building a team 
• Consider the two axis 
• See the level of tomorrow. Beginners + 
beginners = beginners….and it may even be 
worse if everyone wants to be the center 
• There is a need to bring balance to the force. 
One expert for 6 novices may not work
The “plumber” effect 
• Apply to plumbers, but also electricians, 
software engineers, car dealers, lawyers… 
• More dangerous for contractors than employees 
• “All was badly done. I have to redo a good 
chunk of it before I can do my job” 
• Ask for “english spoken” precisions, and what 
would be the next steps 
The fact is that you will want it also: the savior
Managing
Let’s get practical here 
• We have a product release to do 
• We have some specification like an old consulting 
company although we pretend we are agile 
• We want our team to be happy at work 
Based on those good intentions it will go wrong
Cycle is everything 
• If you know nothing, play the bass drum 
• Use your technical weakness as advantage 
• Practices call repetition. 
• Quantify everything, always : cold facts lower BS 
ratio
Use the product 
• Developers nearly never uses what they do 
• But they argue they’ll do unit test (which are also 
good do not get me wrong) 
• Build a common knowledge : the first user. Lower 
the bull shit level. Non technical clever guys knows 
more than technical not clever ones
Give room to come again 
• A good developer knows that way he wrote 2 
months ago may in fact be buggy 
• Force people to spend time on coming back 
• Ensure esthetically pleasure in code 
• Be firm about documentation. Everyone has said 
this stuff is not understandable and it it oneself. Use 
the due diligence argument
Invest yourself in the team 
• Do 1/1 meetings. 
• Do not think you do not have to repeat. This is not 
insulting 
• Being too cool can be used against you.You may be 
despised 
• Remember “arguing with a developer is like 
wrestling with a pig in mud. After a while you realise 
the pig is enjoying it" ;)”
Signs it goes bad 
• “We need to redo everything” 
• “We need more time” 
• Talk about how to improve the process every 2 
days 
• Aim for perfection at the first shoot 
• Lament about loosing time with mistakes
So it goes bad 
• It is always better to get rid of a problem than to 
think it will arrange. Prepare everything to get rid 
of people easily 
• Explain it to your team, especially if you fire 
someone. They are not kids. 
• Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. Only then will 
you be strong enough…
Thank You

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"The Great Technical Swindle" by Laurent Cerveau

  • 1. The great technical swindle lcerveau@nephorider.com, lcerveau@mmyneta.com
  • 2. This talk will be • Not always mincing words • From both manager ,consultant, and engineering side • Borrow from other talks I did • Less cynical than you may think after hearing it
  • 3. So you have a great idea • You see all this entrepreneur ecosystem • Better move by yourself than wait for the train • You are sure you have identified something that could be a business • But to do it….
  • 4. ….You need a software engineer
  • 5. Let’s put an ad! “I have this great idea and I have a great background in well known business or political school. You know Ruby on Holy Grail, love hacking since the age of 2, and feel comfortable walking on The Mission? Do you want to be my CTO, no salary intended but you’ll get a generous 2% of shares” “PS:if you’re not all of those, do not even talk to us”
  • 6. Except that • You know in fact nothing about what programming is, except what you say to your peers • You would tend to engineering is deterministic because it means somewhere science • A few years ago you certainly you would not have chosen an engineer career • May have committed already for a demo
  • 7. So let’s find our way • Understand the “cool dude hacker” marketplace • Swim in the land recruiting • Evaluating people and build a team • Manage a team of nerds
  • 8. The market is statistical!
  • 9. This guy that will save your life Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777-1855 German mathematician known also as “Princeps mathematicorum” “
  • 10. Whatever happens, the limit says The vast majority is average
  • 11. Conclusions (round 1) • Getting the good ones is difficult • Doing recruiting mistakes will happen • Your hopes will make you judge to fast
  • 12. What your emotional bias will tell you Perception “I am so lucky I have seen only good people”
  • 13. But isn’t there more people on the market? • There are also more projects. So the match may even be harder • Statistically you may change a little bit some gaussian parameters • But you will not change very much in a relative way. However certainly more positive effect than negative
  • 14. In a world of technical demand…
  • 15. Conclusions (round 2) • People will be expensive. This is the market law • If you pay too cheap, there is likely something not clear • You can expect a high level of bullshit
  • 16. Cultural reptilian brain Marketing Sales Product Engineer QA OK I can go in cocktails Do not go outside of the room
  • 17. Times are changing Marketing Sales Engineer QA Product
  • 18. Should it be? Engineer QA Product Marketing Sales
  • 20. Parameters for a search • How to search : direct, word of mouth, recruiter, interns and students? • Type to search: Contractor or employee? • Who to search: junior or senior?
  • 21. 1 books to read
  • 22. Really? • I have no connection to the author, Mr Joel Spolsky, but he has done a few thing in his life :-) • This book is the only one that should be read before hiring developers. All is here! • It can be read in a couple of hours, so re-read it regularly
  • 23. In a few words • Good people are not on the market because they already can do what they want • Smart does not mean Get things done. You need the 2. • Not being a jerk is optional • Be factual in job interviews
  • 24. Parameters Senior Employee Contractor Junior
  • 25. Contractor/Employee • When hiring a contractor especially senior, be clear on the expectation “I pay you not only to do a task but possibly to lay down foundations” • Confidentiality and discretion with employees is required. Stay in your role, on both sides. • Plan the conditions of contract ending from the start • Good ones are expensive really • Be prepared to end fast, and from both sides
  • 26. Contractor/Employee • Think about building a team. Refer to the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. • Decide what should be your team level. Never forget: simple arithmetic counts. The “level” of your team may not be the “level” of the “best” employee. • Employees talk (wages, opinion on decisions): be fair all the time and explain it
  • 27. Senior/Junior • Is able to speak to you in English/French • Does not equal years of experience • Will write “bad code” to meet a goal AND come back to it • Knows the boundary of his knowledge
  • 28. Senior/Junior • Tells you about how he knows technologies, and may know more words than a senior • Will systematically explain you why? • Will never warn in advance that he has difficulties • Believe 2 years makes you a senior
  • 29. In no case, differences are in “what technology do you know”
  • 30. Decide according to your business • When will technic become an asset of the enterprise. Should it really? • Do not think money. Think investment: cheap shoes must be re-bought every two months
  • 31. How to? • Words of mouth and “personal contact” is IMHO the best. But be careful of “clans” and “biases” • Using recruiters implies more cost, but with the hope of less time • The recruiter problem: how to reduce the signal to noise ratio? Do not forget, they have people to be hired. But if the SN ratio gets higher they may become precious allies.
  • 32. The “rock star” effect • Fashion and appearance • Buzz words : agile, hackers, San Fransisco, since he was a 9 months old • Has worked for “XXXX”? Ask him what he learned from it (and be prepared to be disappointed by answers) • Be careful of impresario recruiters The fact is that you will want it also: appearance is king
  • 33. Contractor Price Pay for Insurance Pay for standard engineers Pay for code writers Pay for arms (Paris 2014) 1500 €/day 850 €/day 200 €/day Pay for software product doers 450 €/day
  • 34. Employee • Price varies from region Junior startup Paris 38/45K€ Junior Consulting/Big Company Paris or East Europe startup (Germany, Switzerland neighbors) 42K€/50K€+ Bonus Junior Well known Startup SFO 90k/100K+stock Junior Gross Boite SFO 100K-115K+stock
  • 35. Practical • What you pay is what you get • Ask someone to teach you job interview and practice. Write scenarios, find exercises • See a maximum of people to train yourself. Do not wait that you have a need • It takes always a few months to see the reality of someone you have recruited
  • 37. 1 books to read
  • 38. 2 axis Dreyfus model of skill acquisitions Technical Area
  • 39. Technical Competences • Changes over time. C++ is not fashion anymore. • Can be learned if needed. Not a blocker (Rails versus Django or how does HTTP work) • Have a context (iOS 5 years ago versus now has changed a lot)
  • 40. Technical Competences (2) • Also very sensitive to fashion effect • Good varnish when one knows nothing • Ok you get it : this can means not a lot
  • 41. Dreyfus model • Developper by 2 brothers (Stuart and Hubert) in the 1980 • Models of skill acquisition and mastering • 5 levels from Novice to expert. They see the world in different ways • Per skills model • Times plays a role in the sens that you can’t get faster than you think but time will not make you cross the levels
  • 42. Dreyfus model Expert Expert work from intuition Proficient Proficient practitioner can self correct Competent Competent can troubleshoot Advanced beginners Advanced beginners don’t want the big picture Novices Novices wants recipes
  • 43. Influences of the 2 axis One thing to remember : someone has a technical knowledge as good as her/his Dreyfus level
  • 44. Building a team • Consider the two axis • See the level of tomorrow. Beginners + beginners = beginners….and it may even be worse if everyone wants to be the center • There is a need to bring balance to the force. One expert for 6 novices may not work
  • 45. The “plumber” effect • Apply to plumbers, but also electricians, software engineers, car dealers, lawyers… • More dangerous for contractors than employees • “All was badly done. I have to redo a good chunk of it before I can do my job” • Ask for “english spoken” precisions, and what would be the next steps The fact is that you will want it also: the savior
  • 47. Let’s get practical here • We have a product release to do • We have some specification like an old consulting company although we pretend we are agile • We want our team to be happy at work Based on those good intentions it will go wrong
  • 48. Cycle is everything • If you know nothing, play the bass drum • Use your technical weakness as advantage • Practices call repetition. • Quantify everything, always : cold facts lower BS ratio
  • 49. Use the product • Developers nearly never uses what they do • But they argue they’ll do unit test (which are also good do not get me wrong) • Build a common knowledge : the first user. Lower the bull shit level. Non technical clever guys knows more than technical not clever ones
  • 50. Give room to come again • A good developer knows that way he wrote 2 months ago may in fact be buggy • Force people to spend time on coming back • Ensure esthetically pleasure in code • Be firm about documentation. Everyone has said this stuff is not understandable and it it oneself. Use the due diligence argument
  • 51. Invest yourself in the team • Do 1/1 meetings. • Do not think you do not have to repeat. This is not insulting • Being too cool can be used against you.You may be despised • Remember “arguing with a developer is like wrestling with a pig in mud. After a while you realise the pig is enjoying it" ;)”
  • 52. Signs it goes bad • “We need to redo everything” • “We need more time” • Talk about how to improve the process every 2 days • Aim for perfection at the first shoot • Lament about loosing time with mistakes
  • 53. So it goes bad • It is always better to get rid of a problem than to think it will arrange. Prepare everything to get rid of people easily • Explain it to your team, especially if you fire someone. They are not kids. • Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. Only then will you be strong enough…