Technical Partner (Backend Web Developer) in Houston

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:47:01 GMT

I run andkon.com, a fun gaming site. According to Compete or Ad Planner, the arcade has a seven-digit number of unique users. So look closely: it isn't cookie cutter and the simplicity is a feature not a bug. I have concrete and open-ended ideas for new projects using the existing userbase as a seed. However, as I've run the site without much technical assistance over the last nine years, those ideas have been confined to a drawer. That's where you come in: I need a technical partner who believes not all innovation has to be earth-shattering and plenty of simple ideas are left to be implemented by a two-man team. (For example, I hope Gmail gets replied-to icons before cloned Neanderthals roam around.) Specifically, I'm looking for a backend web developer who loves to code.

Just as I don't ask a plumber if he knows how to use a plunger, I'm not going to ask a web developer if he knows the basics like PHP. Those are a given. And while you can't know everything in the alphabet soup of technologies and languages, you should be comfortable with enough acronyms to have a showcase of those skills. And the best way to *show* that experience is not to throw a bag of Scrabble pieces at me but with real live examples. I'm an empirical guy. "Project X for Client Y" is merely an unsubstantiated claim (borderline lie, really) without a demonstration. If you can dunk, I'd rather see it than read about it.

And what's with attachments only? What web developer does not have a website? That's like an architect who lives next to a shack in a tent. A website shows me you can go through the obstacle course known as a domain registrar and you can type in 16-digits correctly. Or hey, even a free site to show rudimentary skills. Apart from that:

I need somebody with a great amount of passion. Everyone uses that word, but I mean it. Somebody who loves to code. Somebody who loves to do the backend stuff as much I love to do the frontend (not just pretty design but functional UI, business, marketing, all that stuff). You don't stop coding until 3AM not because you're chained to a desk but because it's so much gosh darn fun. (Anything you've stayed up through the night that didn't have a deadline?) I've done that that myself so I expect the same level of dedication. At this point, I could sit back and add ten games a week ad infinitum. But I'm not content being a patron of the arts. I'm not a guy who sells a business either. I can't sit still. I'm competitive, looking for the next challenge.

It's hard to find passion without its pals creativity and curiosity. Do you like to tinker? That's me. In high school, apart from starting the arcade, I wrote up marketing essays for Mozilla before Firefox's meteoric rise. I doubt it changed anything, but that's not the point. I didn't get paid and no one had to tell me to do it (in fact, quite opposite). I just enjoyed it. Do you enjoy coding? Show me. Show me projects that have nothing to do with work. Convince me you're looking for more than a paycheck. Impress me.

Apart from passion, I need someone who has proficiency to churn out quality code quickly. Can you think of half a dozen ways to solve a problem or just the one way you've been told? Does your work need a QA department or does it work the first time? The former is sloppy; the latter is pride in perfection.

Without making this seem any more of a personals ad, I need a coder I can rely on, a genuine partner who can work with me to produce awesome little projects. This ad isn't meant to be cute and funny. I'm not looking for a "ninja" or whatever corporate newspeak is used to lure unsuspecting victims through phony colloquialisms. I propose a marriage of skills between me (the guy who managed to get to a tens of millions of page views with a simple idea) and you (the technical guy who can take it further).

If that's you, send me an email. If not, please send this link to someone you think would be a good fit. They'll appreciate it!

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Facebook Application Developer (PHP MySQL CMS) in Houston

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:56:11 GMT

You: Frontend capable developer whose true skills are backend.

We: Established (Alexa/Quantcast rank <2000) but very small team.

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Technical Partner (Backend Web Developer) in Houston

Facebook Application Developer (PHP MySQL CMS) in Houston