Hiring a contractual co-founder?
Hi,
I have many projects in mind or in progress, so many that I cannot push them all while doing everything alone.
As I have some available funds, I considered hiring freelancers to help me, but it's time-consuming.
I am considering hiring a "contractual co-founder", a kind of virtual assistant but very technical. Such a person would be able to address a lot of technical subjects, like:
- Laravel/VueJS development
- Make WordPress sites with nice design, landing pages, etc.
I don't know if some people do it, except real companies ;-)
There are some challenges behind this idea:
-
Trust/confidentiality: you don't want the guy stealing your ideas/codebase/whatever if he sees your idea working. So everything needs to be formal and contractual. It's a real challenge that depends on the next point.
-
The question of price and location. Of course, it's tempting to hire from a 3-tier country to reduce the cost. But you'll also pay the lack of possibility to put legal pressure if the point above happens.
-
The question of contract. Something like a "Renewable contract of 6 months with a "trial period" of 1 month" might fit my needs, but what to do if the guy's productivity drops after one month?
If I hire in France (where I am) with the competencies above, it will cost me a lot of administrative tasks and probably 4500€ or 5000€ per month due to taxes.
So, a six months contract will be a lot of money. And honestly, I have already worked for companies hiring people, and a good developer will never accept such a limited contract (and btw, it needs at least 20 interviews to find one)
So, I am stuck. Is there anyone that took the "technical virtual assistant" (or "contractual co-founder") road?
Thanks!
I have used freelancers for the tasks you mentioned. I don't understand how would you eliminate time-consuming search that generally goes with either finding freelancer or virtual assistant. Its mostly trial and error until you get the right fit.
For the problems that you mentioned everything boils down to trust.
Even with contract in place you cannot prevent it what if he simply uses his friend to steal your idea/codebase? it is difficult to prove and expensive to enforce legally. I would go with something like upwork so in case freelancer does decide to do something bad they would lose access to the platform or suffer reputational damage. I would also reveal details on need to know basis that are required for technical implementation without giving full picture.
Maybe you can get an intern. They might not have all the skills, but you could perhaps teach those. You can get in contact with local school/university, I presume they can help with the contracts, non-disclosure agreementr, etc.
Alternatively, you try to find a 'real' cofounder who believes in the same kind of future as you do and is willing to take on some risk.
Hey nico,
I'm not a "contractual co-founder" but I was an only engineer for a client I'm working with. The company was littearly her and me.
A couple weeks back she wanted to hire another engineer with strong skills both in development and leadership and I was surprised to find there are people offering their services as "part-time CTO" or "fractual CTO".
Usually these contractors have 10+ years of experience in both managerial and IC roles.
She found these contractors via A.Team so you might wanna check that out.
Heads up, be ready to pay triple-digit hourly rates for these guys 😅
Hope this helps.
Triple digits hourly? Wow. I may apply as a developer ;-)
Thanks for the link, however. It's partly what I was looking for, but I didn't expect this price!
Hello @nico3233
I am a technical founder and I will be open to working with you as a "contractual co-founder" as I have some time to put into Development for you.
Here is a brief about me - https://tosinadekoya.com/
Let's have a quick chat or call if you are interested
Actually I am facing the same problem .
I hired some freelancer and intern before but i didnt handle it .
I provide some service about software engineer and php development.
If you want we could partner up , contact me in here .