I'd be much more excited about Foursquare as a place to work if they did not require a CS degree. It tells me a lot about the culture at 4sq, and what it is telling me is not good. Just a thought.
How hard and fast is that "requirement", though? (I don't know if you do or don't have a CS degree, for the sake of argument let's assume you don't.) I mean, did you try to get an interview there and you were flatly declined because of lack of degree, or is the cs degree requirement just boilerplate? If they're steadfast on no degree = no job, well then, yeah, I'd agree with you, it sounds like not a great place. I think a whole lot of places with the CS degree requirement (or really any of the "requirements" that are typically listed) are just using them as a way to filter out unfit candidates so they don't waste their time.
If you think you're qualified for a position even if you don't meet the requirements of said position, the onus is on you to prove it.
However, if you pointed out reasons a, b, and c that you are qualified, and were still declined (at least for an interview) purely because of lack of CS degree then yeah, they're stupid. I'm wondering if you just took a look at the jobs page, saw the CS degree requirement, at let some "bad place to work!" alarm bell ring without any further investigation.
It's not a hard and fast requirement. We've hired exceptional candidates in the past that don't have CS degrees (or a college degree at all). We do expect candidates to have a strong gasp of computer science fundamentals (data structures and algorithms).
