On the negative side of this article, I’ve had a recent Marchex candidate contact me because he received “homework” for a senior role. Until this interview, he had never experienced a follow-up process where several hours of homework was requested. This is troubling, as it seems Marchex has adopted this policy of “interview/application homework” across its employment process.

As with you, I can’t tell you what the intent at Marchex is. I can only highlight that they are collecting a lot of good thoughts and then claiming ownership.

As a domainer and developer, I’ve always liked Marchex and its original business model, but that legal language is extremely unsettling. I’m going to assume it has more to do with over-zealous CYA lawyers pulling off a “rights land grab” than a greedy plot hatched in the corner office. In this day and age of instant communication to the masses, I hope Marchex doesn’t think they could get away with stealing ideas, whether this was intentional or not. At the very least, the language needs to be revised a little.

In slight favor of the applicant, at least it reads “non-exclusive.”

Jay Lohmann
Founder/Managing Partner
PremiumDomainInvestors.com
@JALohmann

I appreciate the fact that you deal with very complex issues in a larger business model, but I think this is where the corporate and entrepreneurial world collide: legality and ethics.

I don’t know who wrote the disclaimer, but it leaves every contest applicant open to abuse. I don’t see any reason that an applicant should release ownership/rights to a “great solution” without payment. In essence, this is like asking a candidate to work for free, for years, without payment. To take the “best ideas” they have and give them away. The culmination of experiences required to see a solution is very tangible and extraordinarily valuable (and I assume the lawyers knew that, else they wouldn’t have put “exploit” in the statement.)

I am actually a good example: I’ve studied Marchex’s business models for years (everything from cross IP/DNS configurations, domain strategies, landing pages, and reputation items.) As someone who knows the value of these ideas in terms of Marchex’s business model, it is rather insulting / abusive to offer a “chance to win an iPad” for an idea that should drive millions of dollars.

If the motivation of an employer is to gain new employees in good faith… rather than ask for unpaid licensing, why not pay them what the idea is worth when you hire them?

Thanks for your feedback. We’re actually hiring 30 people in Seattle so we’re definitely interested in bringing a ton of great people on to the team. As you know, it’s all about execution so the contest is about helping future prospective recruits get a taste of the problems we’re solving and giving folks an opportunity to get a cool toy out of the deal. The legal stuff is there for our protection. Sorry this came across the wrong way!

Tom Leung
VP of Product, Marchex