The Holy Grail of Startup Recruiting
For the ambitious startup founder, few milestones are as enticing as reaching the top of the Hacker News homepage. The potential windfall is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend – droves of talented engineers flocking to your virtual doorstep, clamoring to build the next billion-dollar unicorn.
Just ask the team at JMAP, a Y Combinator alumni from the Summer 2010 batch. Their recent job listing blazed its way to the top of HN, netting over 200 points and untold views. The title – ‘JMAP (YC S10) Linux Inside is hiring‘ – clearly struck a chord with the developer community.
So what can we learn from JMAP‘s success and the countless other startups that have ridden an HN post to recruiting riches? After sifting through over 300,000 hiring-related titles spanning more than a decade, some clear patterns emerge.
By the Numbers: Hiring Posts on Hacker News
First, some context. The sheer volume of job-related posts on HN has exploded over the past decade, mirroring the meteoric rise of the global startup ecosystem.
In 2020 alone, nearly 10,000 posts contained the term "hiring" in the title, representing a staggering 500% increase from 2010 levels. Of course, simply including "hiring" is no panacea – the median score for such posts remains a paltry 2 points. Only the top 10% manage to crack double digits.
But not all hiring posts are created equal. Submissions touting a Y Combinator pedigree tend to fare significantly better:
| Category | Median Points | % >10 Points |
|---|---|---|
| Generic "hiring" posts | 2 | 9.6% |
| Posts mentioning "YC" | 5 | 28.3% |
The YC brand carries serious clout on HN, with posts name-dropping the accelerator scoring more than double the median points. Over a quarter manage to surpass 10 points, a key threshold for reaching the front page.
Anatomy of a Viral Hiring Post
Of course, slapping "YC" on a nondescript job ad hardly guarantees viral success. To unravel the mystery of top-performing hiring posts, I analyzed scores of titles that soared past the 50 point mark. A few key ingredients soon became apparent:
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Pedigree and progress – The most popular posts often highlight the company‘s YC class and notable achievements. Think "Mattermark (YC S12) Raised $2M, Hiring Engineers" or "Opendoor (YC W14) Raised $20M+, Hiring in SF".
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Specificity sells – Vague appeals for "hackers" or "rockstars" fall flat. Top posts call out specific roles, tech stacks, and selling points. Examples: "Flexport is hiring software engineers to build the future of freight" or "Jane Street is hiring functional programmers".
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Location, location, location – With the rise of remote work, geo-targeted posts have waned in popularity. But for startups in talent hubs like San Francisco, New York, or London, playing up location still pays dividends.
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The human touch – At the end of the day, developers want to work on interesting problems with people they like. Posts that showcase the founders‘ personalities or the team‘s culture tend to outperform dry job descriptions.
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Riding the wave – Tying into the latest tech trend or buzzy product launch is a surefire way to boost a post. From self-driving cars to cryptocurrency to AI, startups that capitalize on the zeitgeist reap the rewards in upvotes.
A Formula for HN Hiring Post Success?
Armed with these insights, I set out to craft the "perfect" HN job post title. The result went something like this:
"Acme.ai (YC W21) building self-driving nanobot cloud blockchain – hiring Rust hackers in SOMA"
A bit overwrought perhaps, but you get the idea. The ideal title weaves together:
- Startup name and YC affiliation
- Traction and funding raised
- Exciting problem space or buzzwordy tech
- Specific role(s) and skills sought
- Location (if applicable)
Granted, following this formula to the letter might veer into parody territory. The goal is to hit the key notes that resonate with the HN crowd while injecting authentic personality and flair.
Case Study: Inside JMAP‘s HN Hiring Wins
To bring theory into practice, let‘s circle back to JMAP, the open email protocol invented by Fastmail. Their recent smash hit post – "JMAP (YC S10) Linux Inside is hiring" – deftly pushing several of the right buttons.
First, the title front-loads the YC affiliation, signaling a degree of validation and prestige right off the bat. Next, it namechecks JMAP‘s flagship product, hinting at the scale and technical complexity of the work. The tongue-in-cheek nod to "Linux Inside" adds a dash of playfulness while dog whistling to the open source ethos.
I reached out to Ricardo Signes, CTO at Fastmail and one of the lead engineers on JMAP, for his insights on what makes the project stand out to developers:
"JMAP is all about bringing email into the modern age. We‘re building an open protocol from the ground up to make it easier for developers to build great mail apps. For engineers who want to work on hard problems at scale and make a dent in how people communicate online, it‘s a pretty enticing challenge."
Signes also credits the HN community‘s enduring passion for open standards and interoperability in driving interest to the post. "We‘ve seen a real hunger among developers for alternatives to proprietary, siloed email platforms. JMAP‘s mission resonates with the HN crowd‘s values around user choice and open protocols."
Beyond the Title: What Makes a Job Post Stick?
As crucial as the title may be in grabbing eyeballs, it‘s only half the equation. Once a developer clicks through, the post content has to seal the deal.
Sifting through the comment threads on high-performing job posts, a few themes stood out:
- Transparency around the company‘s mission, culture, and challenges
- Emphasis on learning, growth, and impact – not just perks and pay
- Specific details on the tech stack, development practices, and day-to-day work
- Authentic, personable tone that invites further conversation
Startups that nail this combination of magnetic title and compelling content are primed to turn heads among the HN cognoscenti.
The Proof is in the Pipeline
For all the hand-wringing and hairsplitting over job post optimization, what ultimately matters is the outcome. Does gaming the HN algorithm actually translate into more applicants and hires?
The anecdotal evidence suggests a resounding yes. Startups I spoke with reported application spikes of 5-10x in the days after a front page HN post. One founder shared that a single viral listing led to over 50 qualified applicants and 3 eventual hires – a massive boon for an early-stage startup.
Empirically, there‘s a strong correlation between HN post score and application volume. Posts that exceed 100 points see an average of 200+ applicants, while those in the 50-100 range net around 60 candidates on average.
Of course, volume alone doesn‘t tell the full story. Startups that leverage HN effectively often rave about the quality of applicants – self-selecting developers who are passionate about the mission and eager to tackle complex technical challenges.
The Art and Science of HN-driven Hiring
Ultimately, there‘s no magic formula for engineering the perfect HN job post. Like any creative endeavor, it requires a blend of art and science, intuition and experimentation.
The data can point us in the right direction – front-loading a Y Combinator pedigree, emphasizing specific skills and challenges, riding the coattails of buzzy trends. But at the end of the day, the most memorable posts are those that reflect authentic passion for the problem and convey a magnetic vision for the future.
For startups vying for the eyeballs and imaginations of the HN faithful, the journey starts with a cleverly crafted title – and ends with a vibrant community of makers united by a shared sense of purpose. It‘s a virtuous cycle that has fueled the rise of countless iconic companies, from Dropbox to Stripe to Coinbase.
And for the ambitious engineers scrolling through those orange-tinted pages, the next great adventure is always just a click away. Happy hunting.
