Just saw this advertised. Has to be the perfect job for a mountain biking/snowboarding/skiiing developer:

http://uk.crunchboard.com/opening/detailjob.php?jid=10272

Thought I’d post as I’ve seen a bit of geek chat on here and thought this good be a great move for somebody. If so and you get it, you can reward me by showing me secret trails when I’m over 🙂

We are now looking for an entreprenurial, ambitious and talented developer/programmer to join Much Better Travel as Head of Technology and Development. This a partnership/equity offer, not salaried employment.

Its a dream role for someone with enough money to get them through 18 months + without payment, and a bit of a gamble that the shares will actually be worth something. Also, they may need to hold the shares for a period of time before being able to sell. Apart from that, very nice work, this is true. Maybe the partnership aspect will offer some share of profits in the shorter term?

Seems like they’ve got good growth and also using an affiliate model, so must be bringing in some revenue. No idea who it’s for though, could be a hiding to nothing. Would be fun for the right person though.

Hmm, a new holiday company wants a website…

Can’t beat the spin tho – “Head of Technology” with 2 years experience 🙂

Mid Career (2+ years of experience)

Mid career! That says it all about this industry 🙁

Hi All,

A friend who is a regular on here told me about this thread. I started Much Better Adventures, so thought it was worth me jumping on to explain a bit more about what we are up to.

First of all the 2 year/mid career thing – not our words, we had tick boxes to choose! All we are really looking for is someone with the right skills, talent and ambition. Experience is a bonus to us, but we have got this far on very little, and I’m sure you all agree it is such a fast moving area that sometimes experience doesnt count for as much as in other sectors – look at Facebook if you want proof!…

We are not a ‘new holiday company wanting a website’, and Head of Technology isn’t spin, it is exactly what we need. We are all from non tech backgrounds and have been outsourcing all development work. We want to bring it in house now so we are more balanced as a team, and can concentrate more on certain leading edge technology developments.

What else can I say? Yes, getting involved in any start up does naturally involve a bit of a gamble, but we would like to think it is a measured risk. At the very worst, someone gets a good excuse to spend some time in the Alps at very little cost to them, working on some pretty exciting technology ideas that will be great for their CV, at best they could be part of a succesful ethical business with a lot of different applications of the models we develop.

A bit of background which may complete the picture: Myself and Ed have been working away for 18 months already (site up for 12), 2 others – Sam and Tom -joined us in the last 6 months. We do have some revenue streams already in, and have the industry connections and traffic growth to give confidence in putting in the next ones. Our initial reason for starting Much Better Adventures was not profits but ideals so we come from a very genuine place. Along the way we have hit on certain ideas that are intended to help small businesses compete online, sending more business to local economies around the world. Now quite simply, we need someone with the right technical skills to help us develop them. We have come to accept that a successful profit making business will be the best vehicle to achieve our mission, and know exactly where we are going to make that happen.

Yes, we would agree that this is a pretty ideal lifestyle job for someone – thats why we are where we are! We are not out to mislead anyone or take advantage. We provide accommodation, and will fairly negotiate a share of the business (yes, that does include profit share from the start, not just long term, vague share offerings). We will be open and honest about every aspect of the business with interested (and interesting) applicants, so they can make an informed and measured decision about whether they want in. It is in our interests too!

Happy to answer any other questions here. I know how these things can look, and there are a lot of scams promising the world. Hopefully you can see this isn’t one!

Cheers

Alex

I am assuming the plan is to get someone to develop this application for less than your current developers would be expecting?

In our experience developing such applications (in fact we are currently developing something for another business based in Morzine) is that no one person is likely to have the skills to be able to create it – the range of skills are often so varied the project needs input from several experienced professionals.

(Of course I say this without actually knowing WHAT the application is, but I am assuming it will be relatively complex seeing as you expect such a long development time).

((And yes it sounds like a fun job for someone who fancies such a lifestyle))

Five years ago I’d have known a few people who could (and might) have gone for it. I’m sure there are plenty of candidates out there, if you can find them.

Mastiles_fanylion – yes, we are aware of that, so really it could well be that the CTO heads up the development and we still work with a range of outside professionals. The main thing is having someone who can lead that process and get through as many bits as possible themselves. The ‘application’ is one side of the business, there are also a number of more classic web developments we are looking to do. Who are you working with Morzine by the way? Might well know them…

Always good to have someone with technical knowledge in the team. It isn’t about them being able to do everything themselves but more about being able to lead technical development, understanding what the 3rd party companies are talking about, not being blinded by geek speak etc.

Oh stop going on about it you lot, it sounds perfect for me!

Except…all my experience is in .net – but it’s all the same really Alex…

Cool, want to send us a cv ‘thebunk’? I see your Bristol based too?! Guess what…so were we initially, and still think of it as home when not in the Alps. alex @ muchbetteradventures . com

We are not a ‘new holiday company wanting a website’, and Head of Technology isn’t spin, it is exactly what we need.

How much technology is there actually going to be? Really? On an ongoing basis, 40 hours a week, that’s a lot of work.

I could consult with you for some free holidays 🙂 Can’t work for you full time though as I need a salary.

18 months to develop a website, without getting paid. Erm… no thanks.

molgrips – it doesn’t necessarily have to be the only thing they are involved in, but when technology is the core of the business, that does leave a lot of continual work and new ideas/developments to keep us ahead of the game.

xiphon – I have tried to explain that that is not what we are looking for at all! I guess it is hard to make that come across without wanting to go into specifics on a public forum. There are quite a few people who do seem to recognise the opportunity thankfully, we shall see what comes!

Hmm. If it were me I suspect I’d run out of IT to do before you came up with enough new ideas.. but then I dunno what your ideas are 🙂 I would be interested but like I say, I have a job and all.