Software Engineer, Whatnot
Ads
$185-245k
+ Stock options
Live stream platform & marketplace for collectibles
Open for applications
Live stream platform & marketplace for collectibles
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$185-245k
+ Stock options
501-1000 employees
Company mission
Whatnot missions is to enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce.
Role
Who you are
- We’ve found that low ego, a growth mindset, and leaning into action and high impact goes a long way here
- As our next Software Engineer, you should have 5+ years of software engineering experience, ideally with some industry experience in one of the following areas: ads serving, quality, pricing, discovery, ranking, recommendations, and/or search engines
- Are capable of building scalable systems (we primarily use Python, Elixir, JavaScript)
- Have product instincts. You first think about users rather than the best technical solution
- Have built systems that scale at a high-growth company before, and can do it again with minimal guidance
- Can ship products and features lightning-fast without sacrificing quality
- Are an excellent problem solver and don’t need to be told exactly what to do
- Are comfortable working across the stack (backend and frontend)
- Have the ability to pick up on new technologies very quickly
- Have a proven track record of delivering features
What the job involves
- Ads is a growing engineering team at Whatnot dedicated to building systems & features to help Sellers grow their business
- As a software engineer on the ads team, the most important qualities you'll need are making sound product decisions, navigating new domains seamlessly, taking extreme ownership, and shipping high-quality products fast
- We always prioritize the highest-impact features and ship them quickly
- The software team has a lot of individual responsibility and many more freedoms, so we need to hire people we can trust
- Your ability to put customers first, make good trade-offs, and deliver impact is essential to us
- Build ads products by working across the full ads stack including bidding & targeting, ranking/auction, serving, campaign management, and seller tooling
- Build highly scalable ads system that handles all aspects of running an online advertising system and helps sellers differentiate themselves on Whatnot
- Understand our buyer and seller experiences and become an expert in helping them effectively scale their business through ads & monetization products
Our take
The collectible toy market is large, and Whatnot has built a unique social platform that enables sellers to use livestreams to showcase their products and reach more buyers. The company’s focus is on collectible toys, some of which are rare and can cost thousands of dollars, and has also expanded to sports cards.
The idea of Whatnot was led by buyer trends. Instagram's live feature became a popular place for selling toys and trading cards, but of course was not set up to facilitate bidding or handling payments after a sale occurs. Whatnot combines live showcasing with follow-up sale capabilities, thus serving the community in a more novel way than established collectibles market players such as eBay.
The company has grown fast. It was established in 2019 and has already expanded from its original category - Funko Pop figurines - to Pokemon cards, pins, sports cards, and many more. There is still plenty of scope for expanding into new categories, as the company aims to establish itself as the go-to for this large niche, which will be facilitated by the strong levels of funding that Whatnot has raised.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
54% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Employee endorsements
Hard working team
"Everyone here puts in the work. It's refreshing to work on a team where everyone is carrying their weight and lifting each other up. The work ethic..."
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Jul 2022
$260m
SERIES D
Sep 2021
$150m
SERIES C
Total funding: $484.2m
Company benefits
- Wellness: Health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. We also cover some of the cost for your dependents as well.
- Compensation: Full-time Whatnauts receive equity, a WFH stipend to support your remote workspace and a monthly stipend to dogfood the app.
- Recharge: Flexible Time Off policy, holiday week off at the end of year, and paid parental leave after 1 year with us.
- Flexibility: Remote-first work culture. We provide a working environment where you're in charge of your time and schedule.
Company values
- Always listen to customers
- Move uncomfortably fast
- Prioritize impact ruthlessly
- Own everything and nothing
- Set crazy goals
- Provide extreme transparency
- Optimize for the upside
- Team over ego
- Figure it out
- Deeply understand why
- Have fun & be nice
Company HQ
Marina del Rey, CA
Articles
Leadership
Grant LaFontaine
(Co-Founder & CEO)Former Product Marketing Manager at Google, Project Manager at Facebook. Also co-founded Kit.
Logan Head
(Co-Founder)Experience in Engineering, including at Maker's Row, Factr, and Flight Club. Former Senior Product Manager at GOAT.
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