“Bonus points for XHTML, CSS, UI, and/or UX savvy; must be willing to work 3+ days a week out of our Madison Sq. Park office. Ideally, you can dive into a complex codebase and rapidly become familiar with minimal guidance. Position will be a 3-month contract with potential to become full-time.”

is almost the total opposite of

“People who know us know that working with Kyle and me would be a fun, flexible, and meaningful. We made it clear in our postings that we’re looking for someone to be a local team-member, not just a code-monkey we send specs to and then don’t invite out to drink beers at 2A, or get BBQ at Georgia’s or sip coffee at The Roasting Plant.”

The first says me me me, and the later says we’d love to meet you.

Just my $0.02.

Have you considered hiring someone in a cheaper locale? Someone who is only paying $400/mo for a mortgage in the Midwest or South is probably in a much better position to take on the risk offered with a startup job.

I don’t meet many folks in NYC who are both strong graphic designers and strong coders. People seem to specialize one way or the other. Is this better/worse than other places (SF, etc)?… dunno!