How to hire Developers for a Startup

Most ventures have some relationship with technology, either because their very reason for being is to offer a technological product or because they need technology to operate efficiently.

This means that probably one of the first employees a startup hires is an IT person. The problem is that, as we saw in previous posts, these profiles are among the most in demand. Finding good developers is hard enough for a big company, but for a startup it seems like an impossible mission.

Not only are entrepreneurs less likely to be able to offer salaries and benefits like big companies, but their tolerance for a bad hire is also very low. A large company can make a mistake and hire a bad developer and, although it will cost it dearly (tens of thousands of dollars according to studies), it has other people on its team to compensate.

A startup will probably hire only one or two developers, so if you hire the wrong developer, your entire development team will be compromised (especially if the development "team" is made up of only one person, who is also not competent).

So what can a startup do to hire good developers? If we are talking about a technology startup, ideally one of the founding partners should be an IT person or know a trusted developer. If you are an entrepreneur with a great idea for a software product, but you do not have any IT knowledge, I sincerely recommend that you look for a trusted partner, a friend or a former college or work colleague who you know is good.

For the most common scenario, where the partner is familiar with software development but does not have time to do it all, again the best option is to work with people you know and know to be good, either from previous work or from close and reliable referrals.

Now, as we all know, the world is not ideal, so if you have run out of referrals, or you do not have any, or they are very expensive, and you need to hire someone, here are my recommendations:

• Usually, for a startup, it is easier to get time than money, so take the time to search well and find someone good with a reasonable salary. This first hire or first hires are critical, to the point that the success or failure of the venture may depend on choosing the right person. Do not despair and hire the first one who comes along; evaluate dozens (yes, dozens) of candidates and get the right one.

• I cannot help but recommend, in this scenario, using a tool like Evalart to evaluate programmers. This way you will be able to evaluate many candidates and objectively validate their ability.

• For a startup with a very low budget (99% of them), it is worth calmly searching for a junior programmer, but a very good one. I have seen programmers fresh out of college who can do incredible things, but only 1 in 50 is like that, so, again, I insist on the importance of taking the time and evaluating well.

• Sometimes entrepreneurs feel they have nothing to offer: tiny offices (if there is an office at all), zero benefits, average or low salaries, etc. But in fact, a startup can offer things that no big company can offer. More details below.

A startup can offer its developers several things that make it attractive and that a giant company cannot do:

• Great responsibilities for a junior profile. A junior programmer in a large company will see a tiny part of a large system. A junior programmer in a startup will develop the whole product or a large part of it. For many, this is very attractive.

• Similar to the point above, it is very likely that in the startup they will be able to see more interesting things, have more freedom of action and propose ideas. They will be able to research various technologies and learn a lot.

• No matter how good a programmer is, climbing the ranks in a large company will take many years. In a startup, however, there is the dream that if things go well (and these first programmers will have a lot to do with it) perhaps in a short time they can lead teams and be at the top of a rapidly growing pyramid. The entrepreneur has to believe in their dream and convey that vision, ambition, and dreams to everyone who accompanies them on the adventure.

One last piece of advice before we finish. A startup can grow quickly (although it is more likely to die miserably in the first few years) and therefore, the first developers are the candidates to take leadership positions in the future, a perhaps near future if things go well. Keep an eye on this: a developer who is very good at programming is not necessarily a good development leader. Keep this in mind even in the first hires and keep evaluating who could take on leadership roles. Train them and give them opportunities to develop these skills, delegating a little, so that you have someone to whom you can delegate leadership responsibilities when necessary (and if no one has them, do not ask for the impossible and, at that moment, look for someone from outside).