[LRUG] [JOBS] I need another developer to join me in redeveloping a successful online magazine.

Alex Heeton alex at heeton.me
Thu Dec 19 07:31:11 PST 2013


Bear with me, this is a bit of a weird job posting. And I'm a developer not
a recruiter, so it's worth it :)

PlanetIvy is an online magazine that started about a year ago. They use new
writers to produce edgy content (a similar vibe to Vice) that can spread,
and it's going well for them.

They're growing fast, have some early funding and able to scale their
traffic very successfully; they recently launched a sister site in the film
niche - ScreenRobot - and within the month they'd attracted tonnes of
writers and a LOT of traffic. They're going to be moving into lots of
targeted niches like this with speciality writers.

The problem is, until now they've been building things using a mishmash of
Wordpress plugins and outside freelance development. They're about to move
in a slightly different direction and need their own tech team to produce
something quite cool: "An online magazine backed by a social network of
writers".

Imagine an open platform where anyone can submit articles, get editorial
feedback, use training resources to improve their content. When stories are
good, they get pushed up into the main magazine area giving the writer huge
exposure. As a result, the stories are unique, from lots of interesting
viewpoints and often very niche (perfect for people who want to follow
certain topics and connect with the writers).

I've been helping them prototype this for the last few weeks and we're
looking for someone to join permanently to carry on development and lead
the creation of a new team. I'm a contractor, so you'll be running the
whole show - with assistance and support from me when you want it.

The catch? The budget is small so the pay isn't a lot, 30k is what we're
aiming for. This is just for now, as they grow and more money is available,
obviously your pay will increase to properly suit your role.

So I think this would be perfect for a mid-level developer that wants to be
part of something big. While the pay isn't as high as you'd like, there are
huge upsides:

   - You have lots of control over the direction of the software. While I'm
   around to advise where needed you'll be the lead developer.
   - As early employee you'll have generous stock options to compensate for
   the lower salary.
   - It's a good working environment. You'll be expected to think about the
   product, drive improvements and be part of the team, not just be told what
   to make.

Because you're leading, you'll need to be a generalist. Happy with
everything from devops and databases to user experience planning. Note: you
do NOT have to be shit-hot at everything, we're just looking for someone
who can learn what's needed and has a little bit of experience with the
whole stack. The desire to push things forward and constantly improve is
far more important than xyz years experience here.
Their original job post was a little dry, but you can read it here -
http://3-beards.com/jobs/view/ruby-on-rails-developer-wanted-for-fast-growing-content-platformsocial-network


Why am I not joining? I'm a "contract co-founder" who helps get things off
the ground but I'm not focussing on being around for the long term. I have
my own business (CocktailsByPost.com) and wouldn't be able to give this the
attention it needs. But, I've given these guys a reduced rate (helping get
it launched for a fixed fee) because I think it's a really cool project.

You should think about it :)

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'll be completely candid, as will their
team.

Thanks for reading,
~Alex
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