Dice started as an electronic bulletin board for computer contractors, years before the web. By 2007 it was where technology workers looked for jobs. Its board listed openings for programmers, engineers and IT staff. Employers paid to post jobs and search its database of résumés, and job seekers used the site free. Dice Holdings also owned boards for finance and energy professionals. It filed to go public as tech hiring was brisk.

A Narrow, Valuable Crowd

Dice began in 1990, when its users dialed in to a bulletin board instead of browsing a website. The bet was that specialists wanted a job board built for their field. Programmers, engineers and IT staff came to Dice to look for work, and recruiters followed them there. That audience was hard to reach any other way. So Dice could charge employers more for job postings and résumé searches.

LinkedIn Arrives

Dice Holdings priced its IPO at $13 a share in July 2007 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its business rose and fell with tech hiring. LinkedIn became a strong rival for recruiters' budgets. The company renamed itself DHI Group. It later sold its finance and energy boards and returned its focus to technology careers. DHI Group remains publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Cover: Sugoroku Players, Torii Kiyohiro. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for players at a dice game.