Getting someone to work on my project with no money?
So here's the story,
I have created a local jobs website (nothing revolutionary), but it has captured a large market share in a small developing nation (where I grew up and live). In this small country, there aren't many seasoned developers or investors. My site is used by the smallest and largest companies in the country (sorry I am being so secretive about names); they are using it for free, because I am afraid to charge money and they go away.
I built and launched the in 2013 (or 2012, I cannot remember). I have built it on Google App Engine + Python. I am a self-taught programmer; actually, I am a self-taught everything. Like many of us here, I learn enough to accomplish what needs to be.
Right now, one of the things I need most is someone who can develop some validated features for me, so I can solidify my stand in the market; there are two competitors coming into the market.
I know a friend who has the potential to learn the stack, but I have no money to pay him; no tech investors. Let's say that I have convinced him of the potential of the website's growth and revenue in the future, how can I structure a deal with him? I would not mind offering equity but I don't know how to conceptually navigate that space. I have done research to learn that there are such things called vested cliffs (I think), but I'm not so sure.
I would like to be fair in compensating this person, because I see him as a potentially valuable and contributive teammate in the growth of the company.
I'm hoping to move faster in claiming a strong stand in the market. The country has discovered oil, and many companies are entering the market and posting jobs.
So, how can I structure a deal to get him on board?
Many thanks in advance for your insight.
Vesting is the term you want to look up. A vesting cliff is part of the vesting agreement.
You really need to start charging for listings. If people can post listings and people can find them and apply then you have all the features you need to charge. If they won't pay for that then they won't pay regardless of what bells and whistles you add.
If they do pay you have a business and it will be easier to convince a good developer to work with you. If they don't then try to find out why(it's probably not any reason you want to hire the developer for).
"If they won't pay for that then they won't pay regardless of what bells and whistles you add."
This makes a lot of sense.
If you're going to offer equity, you need to talk to a lawyer in your country. Unfortunately most of the inexpensive or free legal tools only cater to the US. Maybe there are tools and services for your country as well but people can only give so much advice based on the information you're willing to give.
It is unfortunate indeed. I will demystify the core concepts of a vesting agreement and see how I can make it work for my own country. Thank you for the insight.
If you believe in the viability of your service, back yourself and pay for the help. If there are no funds to pay for it, maybe find a low-tech way to get money like running ads on the site with manual payments/listings.
If you're scared of losing customers, keep base listings free and offer paid upgrades for new functionality like enhanced listings, etc. That is a very common way of approaching things.
Running ads is definitely a viable option. The paid upgrades is in consideration — but it require further development effort. Frankly, I have a monolithic codebase, and it is difficult to tame this beast and focus on the business/growth side of things at once. Hence, the need for the developer.