Meet the guy who offered to pay Zaarly for a two-month contract and was hired

http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/04/jeff-morris-id-pay-zaarly-to-hire-me-for-a-two-month-contract

by dannyaway • 15 years ago

61 10 15 years ago

wallflower• 15 years ago

> But I could tell Matt wasn’t entirely convinced.

I played Zaarly’s Startup Weekend LA pitch on YouTube, the most irreverent and inspiring startup moment that I have ever seen. Bo Fishback (CEO), Erik Koester (COO), and Ian Hunter (CTO) shared their vision for a new buyer-powered marketplace, and it felt more like a Judd Apatow movie than a sales pitch. <

I came into watching the pitch with skepticism. It is an awesome pitch because the team was having fun and being spontaneous. Entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBk_339RqI

Roritharr• 15 years ago

It's really a cool pitch in itself, but i think that the Tesla Ride example points out the limitations of the Zaarly concept.

What if you have an accident? Zaarly did not provide any kind of contract that would guarantee the lender that his car has to be returned in prime condition. What if in the accident someone is hurt? This has serious implications depending in which country you are.

Lending stuff is in most cases harder to do than they think it is. Atleast if you don't want to end up creating a black market.

But well, i live in germany, we have a different attitude towards regulation of this kind of things than americans seem to have.

jordan0day3• 15 years ago

You've got some good points -- but on the other hand, they're not doing anything Craigslist or eBay hasn't been doing for ten years now. Even some of their other examples (buying better tickets while at the all-star game) can tend to run afoul of the rules (tickets are often non-transferrable), but I suppose the market-maker isn't who gets in trouble for such transgressions. Likewise, it's the Tesla owners responsibility to get the rider to sign some waiver saying they won't sue if they get hurt during the ride, not Zaarly's. They're just formalizing the "hey man, would you give me a ride in that sweet car? I'll pay you!" type of interaction that has occurred throughout history.

jordan0day3• 15 years ago

I'd never heard of Zaarly before now, and I live in Kansas City. For a while now there's been some rumblings about "The Silicon Prairie", it's nice to see it validated, even if it's just by a single SF hipster.

Off-topic, but siliconprairienews.com seems to have sufferend the hn-equivalent of the slashdot effect.

mikealeo• 15 years ago

Looks to have crashed.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

"If my pay-to-be-hired contract seems like a bargain, that is fine with me. I am a single 26-year-old male, I live a very lean lifestyle, and I can afford to place a bet on the most intriguing startup concept I have ever heard."

- Opening paragraph of my cover letter to Zaarly

I had offered two months rent in my San Francisco studio apartment – a bet on my short-term performance and Zaarly’s long-term potential. If I earned full-time employment, I would earn that money back within a few months and I would be joining one of the most promising startups in the world.

I submitted my "pay-for-employment" offer at 1:30 a.m. on March 21, and when I woke up, I had an interview offer in my inbox. I accepted a position on the Zaarly marketing team at 3:45 p.m. that same day, under the condition that I move from San Francisco to Kansas City, Mo. within 12 hours. I have never lived outside California or visited Kansas City, but I took the job. And Zaarly didn’t even accept my money –– they offered to pay me instead!

By the time I returned home, it was already 11:00 p.m. I reserved a taxi for 3:45 a.m. and packed my entire life into a 27-inch suitcase in just thirty minutes. My older brother, Matt, drank a beer with me and watched me throw clothes into a suitcase. I remember Matt asking why I needed to leave San Francisco for this startup. San Francisco literally has thousands of startups.

Zaarly was different from every other startup in the world, I explained. We would advance human behavior and create new communities based upon a simple question, "What would you pay for right now?" We would build an entirely new economy for services and goods.

I have been obsessed with peer-to-peer, collaborative consumption my entire life, so this was an easy pitch. I am one of eight children, and growing up we always negotiated for something inside my house. But I could tell Matt wasn’t entirely convinced.

As the pitch ended, I smiled at Matt. He was sold.

I landed in Kansas City the next morning without a car or a hotel. I took a cab straight to Zaarly HQ, arriving with my suitcase and a computer. The only person at the office was Adam Coomes, who I had spoken to during my interview.

When I asked where I should put my suitcase, I knew Adam thought I was a little crazy, but that’s why I landed the job. I left my suitcase in the front lobby and pulled out my laptop, ready to work.

In our first meeting, my co-workers and I spoke about our career paths and our reasons for joining Zaarly. I realized that my "sacrifice" to be here was not that special. Sure, I abandoned my Mission District apartment in 12 hours for a city I have never visited. But unlike many of my co-workers, I do not have a wife to love, a mortgage to pay or a dog to walk. Besides my supportive family, I have no physical attachments to any location – so this journey was easy to make.

I finally realized I was actually in Kansas City the morning after I moved into an apartment with Sara Davidson, who quit her PR career at Bailey Lauerman to join Zaarly. During our first morning at the apartment, I was shaving my beard before work.

Sara walked into the bathroom, paid no attention to me, and just started brushing her teeth. I stared at her in our bathroom mirror with half a beard on my face. I kept staring as she brushed her teeth and rinsed out her mouth.

"I didn’t know we would be sharing the bathroom mirror every morning," I said with a smile.

"We are family now. Get over it," Sara said.

That’s when I realized Zaarly really will change human behavior –– it has already changed mine. I now share a bathroom mirror with a female co-worker before work.

I have a new family in a city full of strangers. I’d pay for that.

dannyaway• 15 years ago

It did crash. Now back online: http://spne.ws/9fy

neuroelectronic• 15 years ago

This sets a really bad precident for hiring people. I guess this guy couldn't get in on his porfolio/expirence chops alone. He probably doesn't deserve this job and is looking to buy his way into an easy fortune.

jordan0day3• 15 years ago

Maybe, but I'd guess it was more meant to be a way to get their attention.

If you read the article, they hired him and didn't actually take his money: "I have never lived outside California or visited Kansas City, but I took the job. And Zaarly didn’t even accept my money –– they offered to pay me instead!"

There's already unpaid internships and the like, but they're specifically for the unexperienced, get-your-foot-in-the-door type of person that really needs the opportunity. Unpaid "trial periods" aren't common for most folks, so I have to imagine a "pay-us-and-we'll-consider-you" model is even less likely.

megamark16• 15 years ago

I heard about Zaarly for the first time recently while reading up on the upcoming Startup Weekend KC. Very cool to see local startups getting some press.

Meet the guy who offered to pay Zaarly for a two-month contract and was hired

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