Sounds crazy, but YES and I'm not surprised and it was a brilliant move.

(now please understand that I am writing this without editing and putting extensive time into thoroughly fleshing out the arguments to support my point as if I were writing an article, but will do so if asked.)

Would you like me to explain? NO? Well here it is anyway--my hypothesis. I am going to keep it relative to this blog post, although you will find much of what I say below very well can apply to most:

Here is what you are quoting from the article with a bit more context "Later, we went to an engineering job fair at Columbia, and hired a couple of college kids. We didn’t have any cash, but we said, 'How about if we give you an iPhone and pay your bills for a couple of months?' They’re amazing."

SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS/ENGINEERS - let's stereotype
- I see a similarity among many software developers/engineers who comment and get blog posts on HN. Simply, I find them to be a group where an unprecedented percentage of them do it for the love of it, passion, to achieve the ever elusive mastery, and so on. They feel it is in their DNA. They remind me of veterinarians who also are a group that you will find mostly comprised of people who do it foremost because of their love of animals.

- They do what they do because they love it.
- They spend an absorbent amount of free time on personal projects because it is (I) doing what they love to do (II) honing their skills (III) solving a need for them or others--mind you, normally without any upfront monetary incentive (IV) and so on and so forth...
- You will always find a blog post or possibly know a developer/engineer where opinion about their ability vs. income are skewed NOT in their favor, just the opposite of other professions where opinion about ability vs. income is typically about the person being overpaid.

Psychologically, you could deduce that software developers/engineers are mainly a bunch that is motivated by INTRINSIC value.
(intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation#Intrinsic_and_extrin... )

"COLLEGE KIDS"
Matt didn't say what academic year or program these students were part, but let's make the assumption these students he "hired" were developers/engineers and were still not too far from the "nest" (parents or guardians still provide support for basic needs).

If these assumptions about the students are true, then this becomes almost a perfect storm for Matt Mireles and company's situation. The students he found at this job fair all most certainly were seeking EXPERIENCE over INCOME (intrinsic value).

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So you have software developers/engineers that as a group most seem inherently intrinsic + Matt offering a job that has much more intrinsic value and motivation (get experience, do what they love, etc.) than extrinsic (he was offering to cover the expense of something that has arguably become a need/necessity) + students who were motivated to find an opportunity most-likely for intrinsic value (experience) over extrinsic (income) = WIN/WIN.

On top of all this, the position Matt and company were in made working for him and his "cause" more of an altruistic act, or an intrinsic desire to do something good.

Very interesting situation that makes me want to deepen my assessment, argument, and theory as to how this worked for Matt.

And by the way, I bet these "college kids"--because of all this intrinsic"ness"-- were the best hires and decision he could have made, and not because of his situation.