How to hire the right developer for your tech startup

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How to hire the right developer for your tech
startup
By Pravin Daryani on 2 Dec '12
2 December 2012
Updated at 07:54 CET
I’m currently co-founding ContentForest – a cont ent marketing platform – and we just crossed
an exciting line: our private beta is only a few days away and I’m very happy with the way the
product is shaping up.
Getting to this state has been a process wherein we learned really valuable lessons. How to get
the right development talent in place is one of these. Since this process was rather tricky for us,
I want to share a step-by-step process you can follow to hire the right talent for your idea.
Step 0: Preparation, or what do I want?
You’ve found a market opportunity, structured your thoughts into a concept, done your
homework and the wireframes are in place – great! Now it’s time to turn your idea into a
product!
The very first step is to sort your thought s. Make sure you spend time on defining what exactly
you are looking for. I recommend asking yourself these questions:
Do I really need a developer? Yes, ask yourself this question. There are countless pre-
made systems and templates available, so depending on what you are building (for
instance, building a publishing media startup), you may not need to start from scratch
right away.
What is my budget and time frame?
What kind of programming language should be used?
What skills are necessary?
How fancy is the design and do I need a UI designer as well?
Do I want to hire an individual or a company?
Do I want to hire a contractor or employer?
If your are unsure or don’t have a technical background, get a technical advisor on board to
discuss the details. The idea is here to be as clear as possible about what you want, as this will

determine which sources you should use to find the best match for your project.
Step 1: Sourcing, or where do I find one?
You are now ready to spread the word. The goal in this stage is to attract as many targeted
developers to your project as possible. Attracting interest is the key and a sexy simple job
description is definitely helpful. You will be permanently looking for great talent and developers
know their value.
There are different resources you can use during the sourcing process:
Freelancing websites. There are a lot of these websites in the market, but I usually stick to
the top four: Odesk, vWorker, Freelancer and Guru.
Job boards. There are general job boards and those which serve a particular niche. However,
with most startup projects it is better to take advant age of specialized sources like the
following technical job boards: Authentic Jobs, Mashable Jobs, Smashing Magazine Jobs,
Behance and StackOverflow Careers 2.0.
Personal networking. Making use of your professional and personal resources and contacts is
one of the biggest rewards of maintaining professional friendships. Attend meetings in your
area for entrepreneurs in technology and you will find that there are many people who might
just be looking for this kind of position.
Interns and st udents. Another option is to use interns for your project. Local universities are
rich in fresh, unt apped talent in the form of students looking to gain important work experience
in their fields. To reach the right talent, go to job events held at universities, ask professors of
technical departments, stick flyers in the department notice boards and use the online student
job board.
Whatever sources you might check out , keep in mind not to disclose the entire concept. Only
go with the necessities, essential skills and ask for references and/or work examples.
Step 2: Shortlisting, or how do I make a selection?
It’s time to pick the most promising candidate. If it’s not possible to meet in person, interview
suitable applicants via Skype. Apart from obvious questions about skills, experience, portfolio,
code examples, time schedule, payment method and so on, the following questions will help
you to make the right decision bef ore going ahead.
If I talk to your past employers, what would they say about your strengths and

weaknesses?
Do you work on your own startup or for other employers right now?
What sites and blogs do you read regularly? This questions gives you a good
impression of how they follow the latest trends and technologies.
What happens if you experience technical difficulties? Do you have other programmers
who can help you?
How do you report your progress?
Check out this post on the subject from SEOmoz for further tips. Keep an eye on the
comments as well – really helpful!
Although you might feel more comfortable communicating via email on a day-to-day basis,
don’t make a choice without talking to candidates via Skype, Google Talk or something similar.
This makes it easier to feel out for their work ethic and passion.
Pay attention to their past projects and I would recommend hiring someone who has already
completed projects similar to what you’re trying to do. We tried a good developer who was
learning a new programming skill on the job and it was a rather tedious process – I would totally
avoid that. Also make sure they are organized and complete tasks on time.
Step 3: Hiring, or how do I get started?
You are almost there and have finally found a great developer you’d like to work with. Before
starting the whole project, go with a trial first. Give him a small project that’s complicated
enough to check out their skills and way of working, but at the same time simple enough that it
can be finished in a short time without a huge cost.
Hire the person only if the code is good, is delivered on time and you are satisfied with the
communication and way of working.
While you might be tempted to push on ahead and get started right away, keep in mind that
you should protect your ideas. Although it’s unlikely that the developer will “steal” it, have him
sign a NDA. Check out LegalZoom for tutorials how to make a non-disclosure and non-
compete agreement.
Last but not least, define expectations straight from the beginning.
Any tips you’d like to share from your personal experience in hiring a dev?
Image Credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images