Superstar Database Architect
Be the creator of an app that even your non-techie friends will be raving about this time next year.
Stealth startup has a concept that is HIGHLY scalable/viral (10mm+ wwide users) and has been in the planning stages for years. The founder, Clark Benson, is a longtime internet vet (sold his company eCrush, at the end of last year to Hearst Digital Media) who is now ready to pursue this idea full throttle. We’ve scripted the concept out in detail. We now need a Database Architect/Potential CTO to start the process of bringing it to life, and build a team with us. We’re looking for serious brains and talent for be the first technical hire, with a few more key people to follow very quickly.
This is the rare opportunity to build an application that has a good chance to become an “internet household name”. You will understand after you hear about it (yes, you’ll have to sign an NDA). The idea is just … cool, yet very intuitive and user-friendly. While the concept involves social networking, it is NOT “a Myspace for
This will not be a shoestring bootstrapped startup - we have $1mil in seed financing and access to plenty more. We will pay a healthy salary for this position, but frankly we’re looking for someone who “gets” the potential of the idea and is motivated more by a) the desire to create something truly unique and worthwhile and b) a solid chunk of early stage equity. In other words, don’t bother to respond if you are just looking for a slightly better job than what you’ve got. This is a startup and will involve startup hours and commitment. It’s not a “corporate” environment, and our plan is to keep it that way even as it grows. We really believe in this idea and are not thinking of it as a “quick flip” property while web 2.0 is hot; ideally we’d like to build a lasting entity.
We’re not hypey people, and apologize in advance for this “stealth-cryptic” post - we think the idea will speak for itself, but obviously can’t post it in public. We KNOW the opportunity is there, but we also know this will be a BEAST to program. Our lead technical hire will definitely have to be up to the challenge. If you are qualified and up for a serious challenge to throw yourself into, you should shoot us a resume. We’re looking for people who fit our vibe, as we’ll be spending a lot of time together. But we’re also looking for someone who is psyched about building an app that will touch the lives of millions of people.
We’re looking for really, really smart people, particularly for this position. We don’t want to specify “minimum 7 years experience in blah blah”. That said, this is not a gig for a novice - the more experience the better - if you’ve scaled a database-intensive site to 200K plus daily logins, built social networks, worked with APIs, taken a shot at improving the Netflix algorithm etc that is obviously all very positive. However, the single most important thing is that we find someone who is a creative problem solver, who is really smart, who has the confidence to be responsible for designing something big, and the maturity to know what he/she doesn’t know already and find the resources that he/she lacks and needs to get the job done. Tell us/show us what you’ve done - creating something impressive on your own from the ground up may be just as impressive to us as involvement in scaling high trafficked sites as part of a bigger team. Ideally the Database Architect is also a math/stats/algorithm wiz, but we’d also like to hear from you if you’re a math freak looking for a big challenge.
For backstory on Clark Benson, look at the eCrush case study at www.startup-review.com. Benson also owns a music marketing company at www.almightyretail.com.
