A Quantum Immortal

I listed Google as one of the companies I was considering to work for. It was a bit difficult explaining my goals to people, as I wanted either “a cool, small startup” or Google, which are very different in nature.

I don’t really have to explain why I consider working at a cool, small startup … cool. Working for Delver for past three years was an amazing experience. I joined Delver to “change the world”, and knew that I personally will take a large part in the effort of a really small, focused and excellent group of people. The openness, desire to learn and improve, and passion were common to almost everyone on the team.

I still have this passion, and there’s a good chance that one day I will either work in a small startup again, or better yet create one from scratch. However, if there’s one thing that Delver taught me is humility. I know I’m a good software engineer, but I also know how much I don’t know, and that I can improve and learn in so many different areas. This is why I made learning my number one goal in my job search. Beyond “changing the world”, I wanted to find a place where I’ll maximize my improvement, my skillz, and my career path. I wanted to meet a lot of smart people, and get the “I’m the dumbest person in the room” feeling on a daily basis.

I think that Google can be this kind of place for me.

Don’t get me wrong – I know from personal experience that startups offer these kinds of opportunities as well. Some people would say the opportunities for learning are greater at startups that any any big company, Google included. Some say quite the opposite, that Google is so unique that it far outweighs almost any other gig.

What’s your opinion? Do you want to work for Google?

Here are some questions that interest me when choosing a company to work for. I won’t necessarily get the answer to all these questions, but there’s no harm in trying…

• Tell me a bit about the history of your company.
• How old is it, how has it evolved, what are its goals/vision?
• Is it a startup?
• Do you have sales yet? How many?

After 3 years at Delver (and then Sears Israel), I’ve decided that I need to “see other people”.

I joined Delver 3 years ago, fresh out of IDF and Technion. I still remember how proud and full of myself I was back then. Well, these last three years just served to show me how much more I don’t know!

In Delver Mark I, I worked under the amazing Bogen, learning what Web 2.0 and startups are all about. Is was a great year with its ups and downs, which ended with us being acquired by Sears.

Under Sears, we maintained the startup spirit and relaunched Delver.com as a social shopping site. It is intended to be a cross between Amazon & Facebook, somewhere you can discover interesting products, find trusted reviews and ratings from your friends, and leverage your social network in helping you choose your next LCD TV. We had an wonderful growth from 16 people to 60, including some amazing new talents. I started to lead a small infrastructure team, and together all of us contributed to Delver’s buildup and launch.

At the end, it all comes down to Choice. After three years at the same place, and a few months of deliberations, I made the difficult choice that I had to move on. I feel that my personal career’s growth will be better served by having more experience working with people I don’t know, and expanding the limits of my comfort zone. I feel the burning need to “be all that I can be”, and I feel that the best way for me to achieve this goal outside of Delver.

So … what’s next for me?

I don’t have a specific job offer yet. My top priority right now is continuing my growth and education, in both technical and product aspects. I have a few candidates already on my list, in no particular order:

• Google
• TypeMock
• Soluto
• Waze
• And a few more…

I would love to hear your opinions on these companies, and of course if you have other ideas on cool startups or places where I can learn about B2C websites, scalability, product design – and most importantly, work together with amazing people.

What do you think – should programming language carry any weight in deciding where to work next? Should my next programming gig be in Java, C#, Ruby or perhaps the language doesn’t matter at all? For reference, I’m attaching this chart from langpop (although according to it, the market leader in C. Even if I’m paid double my current salary, I won’t program in C for a living.)

And to all the great people I’m leaving behind in Delver – I wish you all the best, and hope to read that TechCrunch or HighScalability article about how you scaled Social Commerce to 100,000,000 active users. Best of luck, until we meet again…