The CEO's job

I think Jessica Mah is misunderstanding the purpose of contractors to her and her business' detriment. Hiring contractors because the team isn't able to accomplish its tasks in a timely fashion is disastrous in the long run. What happens is that the contractors will write code in the most expedient fashion possible, without care for the long term harm to the code base. The team then sees an inexorable decline in its ability to iterate, which causes the business side to think that even more contractors are required. This self-reinforcing cycle inevitably leads to a codebase that's almost impossible to change or improve in any way; it leads to a place where moving a logo is a three week project (don't laugh, I've been there).

There is another way of approaching contracting that is more valuable for both the team and the contractor. Instead of thinking of the contractor as a hired gun whose sole responsibility is to finish a feature or fix a defect, the founder should think of the contractor as a teacher or a coach. Hire contractors when your team needs to learn a new skill or improve some aspect of their development cycle. Approaching contracting with this mindset ensures that each successive contractor hired improves, rather than degrades the team's skills. Otherwise, your team becomes trapped in a maze to which they don't know the exit, and you wonder why every new version seems to have fewer improvements and worse performance than the last.

EDIT: After further reflection, there is another way that contracting can improve the business in a sustainable fashion. I know of a few companies that practice "contract-to-hire". In other words, you're brought on as a contractor for a period of 6 months or so. During that 6 month period, you and the company have a chance to evaluate each other. At the end of that period, the company makes an offer to you if you've managed to prove yourself as a good fit for the company.

Absolutely.... If you can find someone who is _equally_ good at all of those. Very rarely (I personally have never) you will see someone _equally_ apt (and good) at both left (Writing programming logic, Solving tough technical problems etc. ) and right ( designing User Interactions, Doing business deals etc.) brained work. Humans are not programmed like that.

Sure there are people who can get by doing multiple domains, but they are rarely fit/enjoy/brilliant at all of them.

In programming, design is just as important as logic. Code not only needs to be functional, but it also needs to look good. A visually attractive codebase is much more maintainable due to the basic human response to beauty.

In design, logic is also just as important. When designing an interface, for example, you are constantly solving problems about how the user is going interact with the design. The process of getting there is exactly the same as solving a programming problem.

I think there is a lot of ebb and flow if you don't typecast yourself. As a young kid I was quite interested in the arts. I remember spending a lot of time drawing and honing my visual skills because that's what I enjoyed doing. As I got a little older, I became fascinated by logic problems, remember spending a lot of time learning how to program.

Interestingly, as it relates to this discussion, now that I have grown older still, I actually have become much more interested in business and is one of the reasons why I follow this website. While I've closed a few deals along the way, my business deal abilities definitely lag behind the aforementioned skill sets. That I chalk that up to being much less experienced, not because of any genetic hinderances, however.

It is of my opinion that the biggest limiting factor is time. I was, perhaps, lucky that I started young which afforded me more time to put focus on both design and programming. Whereas for someone else who started programming in college it becomes difficult to fit in time for other interests, such as learning design. I know I spend less time doing business type work than I would otherwise like to because my plate is already full with other jobs. Because of that I miss the opportunity to grow in that area.