📦 Prime candidate

August 30, 2026

Before Amazon could deliver toothpaste to your house quicker than you remembered ordering it, Jeff Bezos himself was on forums looking for programmers.

His 1994 job ad wanted C/C++/Unix developers who could build complex systems in roughly one-third the time other competent people thought possible. Early dot-com culture was born fully caffeinated. The startup was still called Cadabra, turning into Amazon and opening its online store the following year. 

@JeffBezos via Usenet

Compensation? “Meaningful equity ownership.” Yeah, I bet. 

Check it out here.