In the React Native case specifically, I've found that searching github issues is often super helpful. The project is very popular, changing really really fast, and still has a bunch of rough edges. So if something really seems wonky (and isn't a bizarre use case), it's pretty common that someone has already brought it up there.
Reading the code is pretty much always a good idea, too.
> It won't be 100% but I bet the bots aren't 100% either
Bots having tons of false positives doesn't really matter (except to the bot maker, maybe). But GitHub having tons of false positives means customers get annoyed by false alerts, locked data, whatever.
Figured this was the case but assumed it didn't changed the gist of the answer too much. tl;dr actually employing people in other countries is difficult
> I can't name a single ad that I have seen over the past week
Ads aren't trying to get you to remember the ads, they're trying to get you to recognize, like, buy, etc the product. That can happen without remembering or actively paying attention to the ad.
I won't go on a hunt for a list of research confirming it, but there are about hundreds if not thousands of examples explaining that marketing does work, whether its audience thinks it does or not.
tl;dr Even if you believe you'll never click an ad, you're probably still hurting the advertiser and therefore the publisher.
Lots of things might happen based on any non-standard terminology, but in general it's not something we worry about. It's meant to be a little fun, a little different, and attract people that are a little fun and a little different.
If someone wants an account director job at Automattic and never makes their way the Account Engineer link, that's okay. If someone is a bit intrigued by our non-standard titles and looks a bit closer at them because they stand out, that's cool, too.
Anything that isn't normal might confuse people. The goal of our jobs page isn't to confuse the fewest people possible.
I work at Automattic (our office is in the pier, we're one of the companies being kicked out). I'm usually at the pier about twice/week. I have absolutely no idea what's unsafe about it. As far as I know, we've never been told. As far as whether it's justified, there's a lot of not very reliable information involved in the answer to that question, so I'll just say that if it is justified I couldn't tell you why or how.
This is a fine blog post, but it's really got little to do with being an early startup employee, which is reasonably obvious from the first sentence, "I've never been an employee at a startup, but I wish I had."
Coke is the biggest soft drink. Apple is the biggest consumer electronics company. Both advertise like it's the freaking antidote. No need to paint every company with the same brush. Different tasks, different tools.
The "we don't do marketing" thing is both unnecessarily extremist and usually a lie. See Square for a very recent example.
Reading the code is pretty much always a good idea, too.