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I was under the impression that "rockstar" or "ninja" was generally frowned upon, but the terms seem to be making a(n unfortunate) comeback. (Read: reddit)

That said, Bump seems like a cool company, solving a cool problem. Best of luck finding your rockstarninjas!

i think the purpose here is irony and hyperbole. i chuckled. though, i also never understood everyone's problem with "rockstar" and "ninja".

i guess i also didn't understand why w3 changed "html5" to "html", so i think i am seeing a trend here.

I didn't detect the irony but then I also didn't RTFA. Then again, should I have to in this case?
it's ironic because the phrase is "generally frowned upon"
When you think "rock star", what connotations do you get? People who have a problem with the term most likely get connotations of self important, drugged out, skirt chasers who won a popularity contest. Not someone with technical acumen.

With Ninjas there is at least some sense of skill involved. There is a willing to die for the cause connotation that is off putting.

Basically there are plenty of behaviors and attitudes associated with rock stars and Ninjas that hint at poor working conditions, and a focus on popularity over technical quality.

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Anyone else find their tag line a little amusingly worded?

"Bump is the simplest way to use your phone to interact with others in the real world."

I can think of at least one use of my phone to interact with others that is pretty dead simple.

Rockstars earn millions of dollars... are they paying those kind of wages?

C'mon guys, don't use such a trendy, silly adjective to describe people you want to hire. It's incredibly over-used.

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Given that they were advertising for "rockstarninjas", I suspect it was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
I really prefer someone to be a rockpaperninja.
What about pirates? why no pirate love? Arrrrrrrr.
Pirates command a 20% premium over rockstarninjas. Conquistadors may be a more cost effective option (plus, you may be able to offshore them).
I see "rockstar coder wanted" job ads in Craigslist all the time. And they typically offer between 1.5 and 2 times the minimum wage. I guess there are lots of them to go around.
their use of rockstarninja did exactly what they wanted it to -- get the job listing on the front page of hacker news.