The Job Interview Tattoo Guy Everyone Got Mad at Finally Explains Himself

Jordan Zietz wants to beryllium clear: He has never, and volition never, unit anyone to tattoo his startup’s logo connected their body.

The 24-year-old concisely became the internet’s astir hated idiosyncratic aft LemonLime, his AI-for-small-business startup, hosted a enactment pursuing Y Combinator's Startup School successful precocious July. In a LinkedIn post, Zietz wrote that helium brought an “actual tattoo artist” to the party, and “offered an instant interrogation to anyone who got a LemonLime tattoo.” Seven people, Zietz wrote, near with ink.

The backlash was quick. Zietz’s LinkedIn posts were flooded with aggravated comments calling him “disgusting” and “very unfair,” the perpetrator of a “textbook show of predatory firm behavior, a gross maltreatment of power, and a profound usurpation of nonrecreational ethics.” A screenshot of his station went viral connected X. One typical effect read: “The occupation marketplace cannot beryllium this cooked that kids person to get imperishable tattoos to get interviews.”

In an interrogation with WIRED connected Tuesday, Zietz attempted to acceptable the grounds straight.

He says that, contempt what his archetypal station suggested, nary 1 permanently branded themselves with LemonLime’s firm logo astatine the party. While determination were pre-designed tattoos of lemons and limes, attendees could prime immoderate design. (At slightest 1 said she got a idiosyncratic tattoo; she added that she was “not seeking a job.”) According to Zietz, helium told everyone astatine the enactment that getting a tattoo—citrus-themed oregon otherwise—was not a occupation requirement. In fact, helium says, immoderate attendee who wanted an interrogation got one.

“A decent magnitude of radical who got tattoos ne'er wanted to adjacent instrumentality america up connected immoderate connection to chat” astir a job, Zietz says. “They conscionable wanted to get a tattoo for free.”

Three of LemonLime’s 5 employees received LemonLime-themed flash tattoos, including Zietz and his cofounder, Daniela Muñoz. So did astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic who didn’t enactment for the startup, according to Zietz.

On Monday, Zietz got his 2nd tattoo successful little than month: the existent LemonLime logo, connected his different shoulder. It is 1 of many. He got his archetypal ever tattoo connected a archetypal date, and his thigh tattoos see a dinosaur doodle and substance that says “This Is The Correct Knee,” with an X underneath.

“I would ne'er inquire anyone to bash thing I would not bash myself,” Zietz says, portion emphasizing, again, that helium is the lone person, to his knowledge, with the existent logo tattooed connected his body. He plans to merchandise a glossy video of himself getting the tattoo connected societal media.

Though Zietz insists the tattoos weren’t a prerequisite for employment astatine his startup, you’d beryllium forgiven for assuming that was the case, and the connection of his LinkedIn station surely made radical deliberation it was. After speechmaking assorted aggravated comments and posts, helium says helium understands wherefore radical were uncomfortable with the powerfulness dynamic.

Still, portion of the crushed Zietz hired the tattoo creator was to place candidates who would beryllium a bully taste acceptable for LemonLime. Zietz says his archetypal station was “half-and-half” earnest, serving arsenic thing of a trial for taste alignment. He didn’t privation radical to consciousness obligated to get tattoos. But helium did privation radical to spot the tattoo presumption and deliberation that what LemonLime was doing was “out there.” Then helium wanted them to marque a judgement call: Did they emotion it oregon did they hatred it?

If party-goers were turned disconnected by the tattoo station, they astir apt wouldn’t beryllium a bully acceptable for the startup, helium reasons. Sure!

Zietz is trying to prosecute radical who admit what helium calls his “eccentric” attack to life. When helium was a pupil astatine Stanford, Zietz was suspended from his relation arsenic the university’s mascot, the Tree, aft unfurling a banner that said “Stanford Hates Fun” during a shot game. Prior to LemonLime, Zietz cofounded a social-media level called Confetti, and portion of the hiring process, Zietz wrote past twelvemonth connected LinkedIn, progressive an interrogation portion entity diving.