Where to hire a technical talented dev?
I am aware that there is a looking to partner up forum on IH, however it appears to be more geared towards finding a founder as opposed to hiring a long term project lead/head developer.
Upwork has always worked well for me for eCommerce ventures, ad creation, seo, etc. However looking to enter the SaaS space as a non technical marketer with a lot of ideas, and Upwork has struck out for me, as well as CofoundersLab.
If you were looking to hire an IH type developer to see a project through from start to launch to scaling, where is the best place to search?
I think it depends a lot on the compensation you're willing to offer. But still, it's trickier than you might think.
It is trivial to find somebody who codes a feature for you, but to see a project through from start to launch - to scaling, well, that seldom works out the way you expect.
The biggest risk factor I'd say is not even the fact that they bounce for a higher paycheck, but that they might be a kiddie coder, who talks a big talk, but hacks together a system with no documentation and unreadable code. Then you're stuck with a pile of crap, trying to bring in new developers, who will run screaming after a couple weeks, because the codebase is trash.
I'm going to hit the breaks on my rant now lol, I'm just hyper emotional about this topic because I worked in outsourcing for years.
Anyways, plan ahead carefully, and good luck!
I agree with everything you wrote. What you're describing is a (near) worst-case scenario and as such, is important to have in mind.
I think that we as a community should work out more alternatives for bringing founders together. The OP's question is a really common one. That said, I think his inquiry was specifically about where to search for a technical co-founder.
Hey, thanks for your message, in my experience it is a common case scenario!
Absolutely agree, with bringing people together! Definitely partner up, that's how you get somebody to stay from start, to launch to scaling.
The OP is not looking to find a technical co-founder, he's looking to find paid manpower to develop his project. That's what I'm trying to raise his awareness about. I have been deep that industry, managed tens of developers across multiple projects simultaneously.
His previous post:
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/b0970e7072
Quote from his previous post:
"...in addition to your salary I can mentor you on sales and marketing, and hopefully you can gain some valuable experience for your own future ventures.
I will be self funding this project, and would prefer to pay salary as opposed to equity."
We have a team of devs for SaaS building. We have built five SaaS products. We are close to you. And can meet you face to face. We can stick with you from concept through go-live and beyond. (References) Contact for great rates.
I might be interested if the current company I'm with doesn't work out in the next week or so. Im in San Diego so right around the corner from you. PM me with details about the project if you are interested.
I have some good luck in hiring on upwork and freelancer. Now-a-days Upwork is transforming into rigid and costly burden. Freelancer.com is costs less quality is generally bit lower side, I am lucky to find a good dev from Ukraine on freelancer.com.
CodeMentor / Arc