Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why cant we find "our guy"??

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 31 posts

Why cant we find "our guy"??

#1

Post by dmlevi »

So startup looking for "our guy", the right developer to take on our great idea. I cant begin to describe my frustration with trying to find someone. This is not just another equity job, we have some seed money and we have all the right connections to Angel and VC investors. Through all of our networking and interviewing, we still have not been able to find "our guy". Some developers thought the idea was too big and turned it down because its not their niche, others dont have time, etc. My intentions were never to ask HN for for this as I thought I would be able to find someone easily, but I wanted to reach out to all of you to see if you have any advice or if anyone is interested in hearing more.

UPDATE

The idea is a new travel site. We need help getting our vision to beta. We can offer a contracted cost with milestones plus equity depending on your level of experience and your current work load.

contact dmlevi[AT]GMAIL

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#3

Post by tauv »

Maybe the idea is too big for the incentives you are offering?

What is the right developer?

A lot of start-ups are still looking for that all singing braniac super rock ninja star developer who can program 10 times as fast as everyone else.

But often they aren't willing to pay 10 times as much, or even a reasonable amount.

Keep in mind if you can't afford to pay a developer to work full time, then you need to pay them enough to make sacrificing a large portion of their social and family life in pursuit of seeing your idea succeed.

Also think about how you are pitching the idea. These guys are investors too, they are investing their time, years of experience, wisdom and hard graft into your idea. They need to believe that this will succeed if they push it hard enough.

Worst cases:

Your idea sucks - don't listen to nay-sayers so keep going even if everyone else says it won't work. Dont stop till you are ready too

Your idea is too big - break it into something smaller and more achievable

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#5

Post by dmlevi »

tauv wrote: post #3

Maybe the idea is too big for the incentives you are offering? What is the right developer? A lot of start-ups are still looking for that all singing braniac super rock ninja star developer who can program 10 times as fast as everyone else. But often they aren't willing to pay 10 times as much, or even a reasonable amount. Keep in mind if you can't afford to pay a developer to work full time, then you need to pay the…

Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#6

Post by dmlevi »

kylelibra wrote: post #2

Maybe a brief description of "your idea" would be helpful for the discussion?

Its a new travel site. We need help bringing the idea to beta so we can test the market. The site will include the right travel API that we can use to customize the data anyway we want. We have a developer from Orbitz on board, he just does not have the time to develop this. We are looking for a sign up page, a results page and an email page. The beta is very simple and less dynamic than the big vision.

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#7

Post by SingAlong »

dmlevi wrote: post #5
tauv wrote: post #3

Maybe the idea is too big for the incentives you are offering? What is the right developer? A lot of start-ups are still looking for that all singing braniac super rock ninja star developer who can program 10 times as fast as everyone else. But often they aren't willing to pay 10 times as much, or even a reasonable amount. Keep in mind if you can't afford to pay a developer to work full time, then you need to pay the…

Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.

Maybe you should add your email to your profile or here in the post. The email field on your HN profile isn't public. You need to add it to the about field :)

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#8

Post by dmlevi »

SingAlong wrote: post #7
dmlevi wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.

Maybe you should add your email to your profile or here in the post. The email field on your HN profile isn't public. You need to add it to the about field :)

haha thanks for your help

contact dmlevi[AT]GMAIL

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#9

Post by tauv »

dmlevi wrote: post #5
tauv wrote: post #3

Maybe the idea is too big for the incentives you are offering? What is the right developer? A lot of start-ups are still looking for that all singing braniac super rock ninja star developer who can program 10 times as fast as everyone else. But often they aren't willing to pay 10 times as much, or even a reasonable amount. Keep in mind if you can't afford to pay a developer to work full time, then you need to pay the…

Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.

I think a savvy developer would still want hard cash or something tangible other than just equity which is very volatile, although equity is an awesome bonus (if you get us an MVP /when we launch we will give you X%)

NDAs I think aren't so great either, even if a developer passes up, it makes it hard for them to recommend a someone else

If they don't pass it up, it makes it just that bit more stressful having to work very hard for an uncertain reward

Limited equity Some cash, even if it's just a token gesture (get what you pay for) A lot of gratitude Be more open, if developers can talk about your idea you might get people asking to work with or for you

Unless you've got the financial clout to go after anyone who breaches your NDA I'd guess you could hire a whole team of developers full-time. If not, well someone like Apple or Google will drown you in court if your idea really is that ground breaking. :( sad way

Re: Why cant we find "our guy"??

#10

Post by scottyallen »

dmlevi wrote: post #5
tauv wrote: post #3

Maybe the idea is too big for the incentives you are offering? What is the right developer? A lot of start-ups are still looking for that all singing braniac super rock ninja star developer who can program 10 times as fast as everyone else. But often they aren't willing to pay 10 times as much, or even a reasonable amount. Keep in mind if you can't afford to pay a developer to work full time, then you need to pay the…

Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.

Get used to developers not wanting to sign NDAs. We've had it banged into our heads again and again that we shouldn't be signing NDAs, particularly when just starting to talk with someone about their project. Besides, it'll be good practice when you pitch to VCs - they don't sign NDAs either:)
Post reply on HN