It's a shame he chose to let his guard down in a rare freeform interview that's the best insight (I'm aware of) at the man behind the name and this supposed irresponsible behavior is one of the main takeaways.
• A track record in guiding early stage products or services. The early days are as risky and ambiguous as it can get. Someone solidly aware of that going in is valuable.
• Multi-disciplinary. Highly probable that the first few employees will need to wear multiple hats and be able to shift between roles comfortably and as needed. It may not be coding, but ideally it is something tangible and measurable - e.g. the ability to PM a project or being comfortable enough to lead design/UX. Conversely, someone only willing to handle a single discipline - sales, fundraising, marketing, PR, etc. - will have limitations that become obvious right away.
• Domain expertise. May not necessarily have to be down to the exact problem domain but some level of familiarity helps in hitting the ground running.
• Comfortable as a distributed team. Since you brought up the location issue, it would probably help to have someone experienced in working virtually. Communication becomes even more crucial if you won't be interacting outside of a screen on a regular basis.
Where I would look:
• My network and extended network.
• The thankless, yet tried and true method of "pounding the pavement" and networking in person. Having "Terminator Vision" here using the above criteria is invaluable (there will be a LOT of noise to filter out).
• I'd consider looking around for past startups in a similar space that may not have worked out. Perhaps individuals from those teams still have that "itch."
ha, that's a great parallel to draw. miyamoto is behind many of the most iconic videogame characters AND game designs ever seen. so, in fairness to miyamoto, he's got a little steve in him as well.
>>It's essentially a propaganda piece and the choices it gives you are no-win by design (so that the game has opportunity to lecture you on the plight of low-wage workers). Real life is not so restrictive.
Agreed. From a design standpoint, it's structured closer to an advergame that way - get your point across (scraping by on a low wage while dealing with what life throws at you) and quickly before the player loses interest. The events of the game over the course of a month are more indicative of what could happen spread across a wider span of time.
I think there is some value in presenting statistical data as a narrative. I love Choose Your Own Adventure!
I don't think much encouragement is needed there. I hear the phrase "If / When I win the lottery..." cited too often as a cure-all. That weekly or daily lottery allotment would be better spent elsewhere but unfortunately isn't.
