Ask HN: Trial Freelancing?

My business partner and I have been looking for a web developer to help us build a first version of our website. Rather than hire a freelancer outright, we would like to find someone who is interested in doing a "Trial Freelance" period where the developer would get paid to build out an MVP. Upon finishing this initial product and assuming it's satisfactory, both the developer and ourselves can assess if we enjoyed the process / working with each other and perhaps continue on together as our startup evolves.

The Trial Freelance would be a complete standalone deal. If either side didn't enjoy working w/ the other or decided to go another direction for any reason, there would be no pressure to continue working together. A test run of sorts.

We have found that services like Odesk often yield diluted results and set a precedent towards pure freelancing, while headhunting services often pair us with development companies who are only interested in getting us to pay as much as possible for as much as possible. We are trying to find a happy medium.

We have mock-ups, a business plan, and expansion strategy. We both have experience at prestigious companies and are ready to do our own thing with the best of intentions, but have found that many programmers in the freelancing field are weary of starry-eyed MBA grads and wannabe millionaires who have not done their homework. Starting a company is hard enough without delusions of grandeur!

TL;DR: Trial Freelancing is standalone deal where a developer builds an MVP with an eye towards potentially continuing to work with the business (s)he is freelancing for.

Does the idea of Trial Freelancing sound appealing?

My thought was that by utilizing a trial period there would be limited downside (if any at all) with tremendous upside in success.

After all, if the developer enjoyed the process and did an amazing job, why would either side want to cease working together?

just emailed you.