Everything about how I got the job at Liferay was unorthodox. And that strangeness continued into the first day on the job.
Day 1
Saechang and I agreed to arrive at early to the job at 8am. We were told that the start time would be at 9am. We talked nervously about what we were doing and about our beat up cars that were falling apart. Mike's trusty Scion xA with 300,000+ miles and my beat up Toyota Tercel. We waited. We prayed. 9am rolled around and we waited for someone to open the gate to the church courtyard and welcome us into our new job. Tens of minutes passed and we became nervous. Did we have the right start date? Was this a joke? Finally, at 10am, someone arrived and let us in – apologizing along the way.
The Office
In 2008, Liferay's "HQ" was based out of a church in Diamond Bar, CA. The church had a large open courtyard, sunday school classrooms, a sanctuary, a handball court, a big dirt field, and a loft filled with desks and desktop PCs. Amenities included water, chips, and a modest kitchen with a fridge and microwave. I think there was a point when we had a toaster oven, but I believe that got axed because Brian felt they were too messy and unsanitary for numerous people to use. I was bummed about that.
Speaking of people, at the time of hiring, I think that Saechang and I were somewhere between the fiftieth to sixtieth employees hired to work at Liferay. By comparison, the company now has ~1000 employees globally. Back then, at the Diamond Bar office, there may have been ~20+ folks who worked there on a regular basis.