Data as of Aug 25, 2026 · Based on 323 AI responses from ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode · See how Parse measures this
To hire your first contract developer, prioritize defining your project requirements and using a technical advisor for vetting. For startup-focused recruitment, use specialized platforms like 
Brands AI recommends here
AngelList (Wellfound) is the best fit for finding developers who specifically want to work in a startup environment, providing a niche platform to reach talent familiar with the startup ecosystem.
Toptal is best for founders who may lack personal technical interviewing experience, as it specializes in providing developers who have already passed a rigorous vetting process.
UpworkSource | Citation share |
|---|---|
 Technical hiring for non-technical founders | DigitalOceanhttps://www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/technical-hiring-for-non-technical-founders | 5.5% |
 The Non-Technical Founder's Guide to Hiring Freelance Software Developershttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/non-technical-founders-guide-hiring-freelance-software-developers | 5.3% |
 How to Vet and Hire Engineers as a non-Technical Founderhttps://medium.com/@Jawerty/how-to-properly-vet-and-hire-engineers-as-a-non-technical-founder-32685ff5d342 | 3.7% |
 How to Hire Your First Developer When You're Non-Technical (Without Getting Burned)https://uxcontinuum.com/blog/technical-leadership/hiring-first-developer | 3.7% |
 Hire Developers Without a Tech Co-founder | Flat-Fee Recruitment by Behoofhttps://www.gobehoof.com/post/hire-developers-without-tech-cofounder | 3.4% |
 The ultimate guide to hiring a software developer for non-technical folkhttps://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/10pj0je/the_ultimate_guide_to_hiring_a_software_developer/ | 3.2% |
How Non-Technical Founders Can Hire Their First Engineer - LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-non-technical-founders-can-hire-first-engineer-yashar-moradi-mglrf | 3.1% |
 How should a non-technical founder hire their first developer or founding engineer? | Cortancehttps://cortance.com/answers/hiring-team/how-should-a-non-technical-founder-hire-their-first-developer-or-founding-engineer | 3.0% |
 How to Vet and Hire Engineers as a non-Technical Founderhttps://jetthoughts.com/blog/how-vet-hire-engineers-as-non-technical-founder-startup-developers/ | 2.8% |
 Zee Palm — We Keep Production Apps Alivehttps://www.zeepalm.com/blog/hiring-your-first-developer-as-a-non-tech-founder | 2.8% |
If you’re a non-technical founder, don’t try to become a software engineer before hiring one. Your job is to define the product clearly, find someone with evidence they can ship, and create a process that lets a technical person help you evaluate them.
The biggest mistake is hiring someone for a 3–6 month build based on a good interview. A small paid trial is much safer. YC similarly recommends being extremely clear about what you need and prioritizing people who can actually work well with you.
For a first contractor, write a one-page brief:
Don't say:
"I need someone to build my startup." Say:
"I need a web app where a customer can create an account, upload X, receive Y, and pay for Z. I want the first usable version in 6–8 weeks." That makes it possible for a developer to estimate the work—and makes it much easier for you to compare candidates.
For your first developer, I'd prioritize:
I'd care considerably less about whether they know 14 programming languages.
A useful question is:
"Show me something you personally built and shipped. What did you personally do, what went wrong, and what would you do differently now?" Then ask them to walk you through it as if you're a customer.
You're looking for someone who can explain technical decisions in plain English. Current early-stage engineering roles similarly emphasize shipping experience, product judgment, communication, and autonomy rather than simply a list of technologies.
This is probably the highest-leverage thing you can do as a non-technical founder.
Pay an experienced software engineer or technical advisor to:
You don't need to hire this person full-time. Even a few hours of expert review can dramatically reduce your risk.
Think of them as your technical buyer's agent.
Start with referrals rather than posting a generic job ad. YC's guidance for early engineering hires puts personal networks at the top because you get much better information about the person's ability and working style.
Ask:
"Who is the best developer you've personally worked with who might be interested in a 1–3 month startup project?" Then try:
I'd rather interview five highly recommended developers than receive 100 applications from a generic job posting.
This is the part I'd be most aggressive about.
Don't immediately give someone a $30,000 project.
Give your finalist a small, paid piece of the actual product.
For example:
"Build the user signup + onboarding flow." or:
"Build a working prototype of the core calculation." or:
"Take this existing prototype and turn one screen into a working feature." Ideally it's something that takes roughly a few days to two weeks, not months.
Pay them normally for it.
You're evaluating:
Recent startup hiring examples also use take-home projects and work trials specifically to see how candidates approach real problems rather than relying exclusively on interviews.
You don't need technical interview questions.
Ask:
Past work
"What's the most complicated product you've personally shipped?" "What parts did you personally build?" "Can I see it?" Problem solving
"Suppose I change this requirement halfway through. How would you handle it?" "What information would you need from me before starting?" Architecture
"How would you build the first version of this?" Then:
"Why would you choose that approach?" And:
"What would you deliberately not build yet?" That last question is excellent. A good early-stage developer should understand that MVP ≠ building everything perfectly.
Communication
"How do you normally keep a non-technical client updated?" "What happens when you're blocked?" Failure
"Tell me about a project that went badly. What happened?" I'd pay close attention to whether they blame everyone else.
🚩 They promise an extremely aggressive timeline without asking questions.
🚩 They can't show you things they've actually shipped.
🚩 They talk almost exclusively about technologies rather than the customer/problem.
🚩 They say "yes" to everything without discussing tradeoffs.
🚩 They disappear for days.
🚩 They don't give you demos frequently.
🚩 They want a huge upfront payment before you've established trust.
🚩 They insist on building a complicated architecture for a simple MVP.
🚩 They can't explain their decisions to you in understandable language.
🚩 They tell you that you don't need documentation, tests, source control, backups, etc.
🚩 They're strangely resistant to another engineer reviewing their work.
Before they start, have a written agreement covering at least:
Important: create the GitHub/repository, cloud accounts, domain, app-store accounts, etc. under your company's ownership, not the contractor's personal account.
You don't want your entire company dependent on somebody else's Gmail account.
For U.S. contractors, also have an attorney/accountant confirm that the working arrangement is properly classified and documented; "contractor" isn't simply whatever label you put in the agreement.
For example:
Milestone 1 — $X
Architecture + working skeleton
Milestone 2 — $X
Core user workflow
Milestone 3 — $X
Payments/integrations/etc.
Milestone 4 — $X
Production launch + handoff
Each milestone should have an observable definition of done.
And have them demo the product regularly. Don't wait six weeks for the grand reveal.
For a first product, there's a big difference between:
Freelancer: "I'm personally responsible for building this."
and
Agency: "I'll give this to a team of developers."
An agency can be appropriate, but as a non-technical founder you can end up paying for project management, layers of subcontractors, and coordination while having very little understanding of what's actually being built.
If you're hiring one person, I'd strongly prefer someone who will personally own the work and communicate directly with you.
If I were you, I'd run this exact funnel:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Before you hire anyone, ask yourself:
"Do I need a contractor, or do I actually need a technical cofounder?" If software is merely a tool for your business—say you're building a marketplace, services business, or niche SaaS where the technology itself isn't your competitive moat—a contractor may be exactly right.
If the company fundamentally depends on proprietary technology, complex infrastructure, AI research, or continuous technical development, you may eventually need a technical leader rather than a succession of contractors. The first contractor can still be a good way to validate the idea before making that bigger commitment.
If you tell me what you're trying to build, your approximate budget, and whether you already have a prototype/design, I can turn this into a concrete hiring plan—including where I'd look, what type of developer I'd hire, what I'd pay, and a screening scorecard you can use even without technical knowledge.
That last question is excellent. A good early-stage developer should understand that MVP ≠ building everything perfectly.
Communication
"How do you normally keep a non-technical client updated?" "What happens when you're blocked?" Failure
"Tell me about a project that went badly. What happened?" I'd pay close attention to whether they blame everyone else.
🚩 They promise an extremely aggressive timeline without asking questions.
🚩 They can't show you things they've actually shipped.
🚩 They talk almost exclusively about technologies rather than the customer/problem.
🚩 They say "yes" to everything without discussing tradeoffs.
🚩 They disappear for days.
🚩 They don't give you demos frequently.
🚩 They want a huge upfront payment before you've established trust.
🚩 They insist on building a complicated architecture for a simple MVP.
🚩 They can't explain their decisions to you in understandable language.
🚩 They tell you that you don't need documentation, tests, source control, backups, etc.
🚩 They're strangely resistant to another engineer reviewing their work.
Before they start, have a written agreement covering at least:
Important: create the GitHub/repository, cloud accounts, domain, app-store accounts, etc. under your company's ownership, not the contractor's personal account.
You don't want your entire company dependent on somebody else's Gmail account.
For U.S. contractors, also have an attorney/accountant confirm that the working arrangement is properly classified and documented; "contractor" isn't simply whatever label you put in the agreement.
For example:
Milestone 1 — $X
Architecture + working skeleton
Milestone 2 — $X
Core user workflow
Milestone 3 — $X
Payments/integrations/etc.
Milestone 4 — $X
Production launch + handoff
Each milestone should have an observable definition of done.
And have them demo the product regularly. Don't wait six weeks for the grand reveal.
For a first product, there's a big difference between:
Freelancer: "I'm personally responsible for building this."
and
Agency: "I'll give this to a team of developers."
An agency can be appropriate, but as a non-technical founder you can end up paying for project management, layers of subcontractors, and coordination while having very little understanding of what's actually being built.
If you're hiring one person, I'd strongly prefer someone who will personally own the work and communicate directly with you.
If I were you, I'd run this exact funnel:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Before you hire anyone, ask yourself:
"Do I need a contractor, or do I actually need a technical cofounder?" If software is merely a tool for your business—say you're building a marketplace, services business, or niche SaaS where the technology itself isn't your competitive moat—a contractor may be exactly right.
If the company fundamentally depends on proprietary technology, complex infrastructure, AI research, or continuous technical development, you may eventually need a technical leader rather than a succession of contractors. The first contractor can still be a good way to validate the idea before making that bigger commitment.
Hiring your first contract developer as a non-technical founder can feel like navigating a foreign country without a phrasebook. You don't need to write code, but you do need to know how to spot capability, align incentives, and manage the build process effectively.
Here is a step-by-step framework to get it right:
Never ask a developer to "build my app." Vague requests attract expensive, unfocused proposals.
Avoid random job boards if you can; curated networks yield higher-quality, vetted talent.
For an early contractor, communication and business understanding matter just as much as coding chops.
Never hire a contractor full-time or for a massive multi-month block straight out of the gate.
Protect your IP and manage financial risk.
If you'd like, tell me:
I can help you break down a high-level scope or draft an outreach message to send to potential developers.
No sources cited
The biggest mistake a non-technical founder can make is trying to become technical enough to personally judge code. Instead, build a hiring process that lets you evaluate what you can judge—and borrow technical judgment for the parts you can't.
Here's the process I'd use for a first contract developer.
First, define a small, concrete outcome.
Bad:
"Build our SaaS platform." Good:
"Build a web app where a user can sign up, upload a CSV, see the records in a dashboard, and invite another user." Give the developer:
You don't need to specify the technology stack if you don't know what it should be. A good developer should be able to explain the tradeoffs to you.
For a first MVP, I'd generally look for someone who can actually build across the stack rather than someone whose résumé is full of architecture/management titles.
You want someone who:
For an early product, a developer who has shipped five real applications is often more useful than someone with an impressive résumé who has spent years inside a large engineering organization.
Recent guidance aimed specifically at non-technical founders similarly emphasizes shipped work, references, and practical assessments over résumé credentials.
Sources I'd consider:
Don't interview someone and think, "This person seems great; let's hire them."
Instead, get a pool and compare them against the same criteria.
This is probably the single highest-leverage thing you can do.
Pay a trustworthy senior engineer, CTO, technical advisor, or experienced founder for 1–3 hours to:
You don't need this person to become your CTO. You're essentially renting technical judgment for the hiring decision.
If you don't have someone in your network, you can find a fractional CTO/technical advisor specifically for this purpose.
This is much more important than asking algorithm questions.
Give your top 2–3 candidates a small, paid piece of real work.
For example:
"Take this existing screen and implement the login flow. You have three days. Here's what the finished behavior should be." Pay them fairly for it.
Then evaluate:
You don't have to understand the code. Your technical advisor can inspect that part.
A small real-world work sample is specifically recommended for founders who can't evaluate code themselves.
Don't just ask:
"Was John good?" Ask:
That last question is especially useful.
And ideally, talk to two previous clients, not just one.
Don't commit to six months.
I'd structure the first engagement roughly like:
Phase 1 — Discovery/technical setup: 1–2 weeks Phase 2 — MVP sprint: 4–8 weeks Phase 3 — Continue/stop decision: after you've seen actual work
The initial agreement should make it easy for either side to walk away.
You're not trying to find someone who promises they'll build your entire company. You're trying to answer:
"Can this person reliably turn my product requirements into working software?"
This is the boring part that can become extremely expensive later.
Before they write code, have a proper contractor agreement covering things such as:
Do not assume that paying a contractor means you own the resulting code. For independent contractors, software IP generally needs to be transferred through an appropriate written agreement.
I'd have a startup lawyer review your contractor agreement once rather than relying blindly on a random template.
This is an underrated one.
Create the company's accounts yourself:
Then give the developer appropriate access.
Don't let your entire company live inside the developer's personal accounts.
The code should go into a company-controlled repository from day one.
For the first engagement, I'd generally favor:
Hourly/day rate + clearly defined milestones
over:
"I'll build your entire startup for $X."
The latter sounds attractive but often creates ugly incentives.
You want to be able to say:
"Here's the next milestone. Here's what constitutes completion. Here's what we'll pay." Then inspect the actual product.
I'd be very cautious if a candidate:
One particularly important signal: a good developer will tell you when your idea or requirements are wrong.
You don't want someone who obediently says "yes" to everything.
I'd score finalists something like this:
| Criteria | Weight |
|---|---|
| Relevant things they've actually shipped | 25% |
| Communication | 20% |
| Paid trial project | 25% |
| References | 15% |
| Technical assessment | 10% |
| Price | 5% |
Notice that price is only 5%.
A developer who costs 30% more but gets the product right can be dramatically cheaper than a cheap developer who takes four months to build the wrong thing.
If you want the whole thing reduced to a playbook:
Define → source 15 → interview 5 → technical advisor screens 3 → paid trial 2 → references → hire 1 → 30-day milestone → reassess.
And one final principle:
Your job as a non-technical founder isn't to manage the developer's code. It's to manage the product, priorities, customers, budget, and definition of success.
Give the developer ownership of how to build it, while you retain ownership of what gets built and why.
If you tell me what you're building, your approximate budget, and whether you need a web app, mobile app, or both, I can also give you a very specific first-hire profile, sourcing strategy, interview questions, trial project, and compensation structure.
A developer who costs 30% more but gets the product right can be dramatically cheaper than a cheap developer who takes four months to build the wrong thing.
If you want the whole thing reduced to a playbook:
Define → source 15 → interview 5 → technical advisor screens 3 → paid trial 2 → references → hire 1 → 30-day milestone → reassess.
And one final principle:
Your job as a non-technical founder isn't to manage the developer's code. It's to manage the product, priorities, customers, budget, and definition of success.
Give the developer ownership of how to build it, while you retain ownership of what gets built and why.
If you tell me what you're building, your approximate budget, and whether you need a web app, mobile app, or both, I can also give you a very specific first-hire profile, sourcing strategy, interview questions, trial project, and compensation structure.
Hiring your first contract software developer as a non-technical founder can feel daunting, but treating it like any other business partnership makes it manageable.
Here is a step-by-step framework to find, vet, and hire the right person:
Would you like help:
Hiring your first contract software developer as a non-technical founder can feel daunting, but you don't need to write code to build a great product. You just need a clear process to evaluate talent, protect your business, and communicate your vision.
Here is a step-by-step framework to get it done right:
Would you like help with:
No sources cited
The safest approach is not to try to become technical enough to interview developers yourself. Instead, borrow technical judgment for the parts you can’t evaluate, while you personally evaluate the things only the founder can judge: communication, ownership, product understanding, reliability, and fit.
A good process looks like this:
Before looking for candidates, define the first 4–8 week outcome in plain English.
For example:
“Build a web app where a customer can create an account, upload a CSV, see the records in a dashboard, and export the results.” Then define:
Avoid telling the developer how to build it. You want to see how they approach the problem.
For a first contractor, I'd generally favor someone who has actually shipped products end-to-end over someone who simply has the lowest hourly rate.
You want someone who can:
Early-stage startups particularly benefit from people who can operate independently rather than narrowly specialized developers.
Your best candidates are often one degree away.
Ask:
A particularly good question is:
“Who is the best software developer you've personally worked with who might be available for a 1–3 month contract?” You want a specific person's name, not “try Upwork.”
If you don't have a technical network, hiring a technical advisor for a few hours can be extremely valuable. Multiple hiring guides recommend this specifically for non-technical founders.
This is probably the single most important trick.
Once you've narrowed the candidates to 2–4 people, pay an experienced engineer/CTO to:
You don't need this person to make the hiring decision. You need them to answer:
“Is this person actually capable of building what the founder thinks they're capable of building?” One startup founder interviewed by TechCrunch described paying experienced developers roughly $200–$500 per candidate for this kind of technical evaluation.
That is cheap insurance compared with spending $20,000 on the wrong developer.
Your interview should focus on things you can assess.
Ask:
“Tell me about the most complicated product you've built yourself.”
Then:
“What parts did you personally build?”
“What went wrong?”
“What would you do differently if you built it today?”
“If you were building our product, what questions would you need answered before starting?”
“How would you break the first month of work into milestones?”
“Explain the architecture you would use as if you're explaining it to someone who doesn't code.”
That last question is especially useful. A strong developer should be able to communicate technical decisions clearly to a non-technical founder.
And watch what happens when you say:
“I don't understand that. Can you explain it another way?” Green flag: They patiently explain it.
Red flag: They become dismissive, condescending, or hide behind jargon.
Don't jump from interview → $30,000 project.
Give your top 2 candidates a small, real assignment—perhaps 4–8 hours of work—and pay them for it.
For example:
“Take this small feature from our product and build a working version. You can make reasonable assumptions, but document them.” Then evaluate:
A paid work sample is particularly useful because you can judge execution without needing to read the code yourself.
Don't just ask:
“Was John a good developer?” Ask the former client/manager:
“What did John struggle with?” “Did you ever have problems with deadlines?” “How much management did he require?” “Would you hire him again?” “What type of project would you not give him?” That last question is excellent because it forces a more honest assessment.
Rather than:
“Here's $60,000. Build my startup.” I'd structure the first engagement as something like:
Phase 1 — 2 weeks
Phase 2 — 4–6 weeks
Then decide whether to continue.
You're evaluating both the software and the working relationship.
At minimum, have a lawyer/accountant help you address:
Especially important: make sure the company—not the contractor—owns the resulting intellectual property and that the agreement properly assigns it.
And don't assume that calling someone a “contractor” makes them legally a contractor. Worker classification can depend on factors such as control over how/when the work is performed and the overall relationship; get appropriate legal/tax advice for your jurisdiction. A recent 2026 hiring guide specifically highlights contractor misclassification as a common startup mistake.
This is a surprisingly important founder rule:
The developer should work inside accounts owned by your company.
For example:
Don't let your entire company become dependent on:
[email protected]If John disappears tomorrow, you should still be able to access everything.
For a first contract developer, I'd make it roughly:
20–30 candidates ↓ 5–8 founder interviews ↓ 2–4 finalists ↓ Technical advisor evaluates them ↓ 1–2 paid work samples ↓ Reference checks ↓ 2-week paid trial ↓ Continue / replace
That may sound like a lot of work, but the alternative is often learning after spending tens of thousands of dollars that you hired the wrong person.
Don't hire someone because they say:
“Absolutely, I can build that.” A great developer will often say:
“Maybe. Before I tell you how I'd build it, I need to understand X, Y and Z. There are two ways we could approach this, and I'd recommend A because…” Curiosity + questions + clear tradeoffs + evidence of things they've actually shipped is much more valuable than an impressive résumé or a low hourly rate.
If you're at the very beginning, the best setup for many non-technical founders is actually a strong senior contractor + a small amount of independent technical oversight, rather than handing the entire technical strategy to one developer.
A paid work sample is particularly useful because you can judge execution without needing to read the code yourself.
Don't just ask:
Hiring your first contract developer as a non-technical founder can feel daunting, but you don't need to code to do it successfully. The key is focusing on business outcomes, clear communication, and structured vetting.
Here is a step-by-step roadmap to finding, vetting, and hiring the right person:
If you want, tell me more about:
I can help you write a tailored job description or draft specific technical screening questions.
A non-technical founder should approach their first contract developer less like “hiring someone to build my app” and more like “finding a trusted partner who can turn business requirements into working software.” The biggest risks are usually not writing code—they’re unclear scope, poor communication, and hiring someone whose skills don’t match the stage of the company.
A practical approach:
Before talking to developers, write down:
Avoid starting with “I need a full-stack developer to build my startup.” Good developers will struggle to estimate something that vague.
Common options:
A. Product-minded full-stack developer
B. Specialist
C. Fractional technical advisor + developer
Good sources:
A referral from someone who has actually worked with the developer is often more valuable than a long résumé.
You may not be able to judge code quality, but you can judge how someone thinks.
Ask questions like:
Good signs:
Red flags:
You do not need to become a programmer overnight. Borrow technical judgment:
A small paid project often reveals more than interviews because you see communication, reliability, and actual delivery.
Example trial:
“Build this small feature in one week. Here is the expected behavior. Explain your decisions.”
Avoid immediately signing a six-month engagement.
A safer structure:
Phase 1: Paid trial (1–2 weeks)
Phase 2: MVP contract
Phase 3: Longer relationship
Have a written contract covering:
The company should own the code and the accounts—not the contractor’s personal accounts.
Your job is not to tell them how to code. Your job is to provide:
A strong developer does not just type faster; they help you decide what is worth building.
For many non-technical founders building an MVP, look for:
“A senior-ish generalist developer who has shipped products before, communicates clearly, asks good questions, and is comfortable working with ambiguity.”
The cheapest developer is rarely the cheapest outcome. A person who prevents you from building the wrong thing can save far more than their hourly rate.
If you tell me your situation (idea stage vs. existing customers, budget, web/mobile, and whether you need an MVP or a production system), I can suggest a more specific hiring strategy.
Hiring your first contract software developer as a non-technical founder can feel daunting, but you don't need to code to build a great team. Success comes down to focusing on problem-solving, setting clear boundaries, and leaning on structured processes.
Here is a step-by-step framework to guide you through the process:
Would you like me to help you draft a clear project scope template or a list of interview questions to ask your candidates?
For a non-technical founder, the trick is not to become technical enough to judge code. It’s to design a hiring process where you don’t have to.
Your first contractor should ideally be a senior, product-minded generalist who can take a clearly defined feature from idea → working software → deployment without needing you to manage every technical decision. Startup hiring guidance similarly emphasizes autonomy and seniority for early technical hires.
1. Define the first 4–8 weeks of work before looking for anyone.
Don't post:
"Need a full-stack developer to build my startup."
Instead, write down:
For example:
"Build a web app where a customer can create an account, upload a PDF, have it processed, and receive a generated report. We need a working beta for 10 users in six weeks."
That's dramatically easier to hire against.
2. Hire for outcomes, not a technology shopping list.
You probably don't yet know whether you need React vs. Vue, Postgres vs. something else, etc.
That's okay.
Look for someone who has already built products similar to yours and can explain why they chose their technology.
A good candidate should be able to say:
"Given what you're building, I'd probably use X because..., but I'd want to investigate Y before committing."
A bad candidate tends to say:
"Absolutely. I can build anything. I've used 47 technologies."
3. Get a technical person on your side.
This is probably the highest-leverage thing you can do.
Pay an experienced engineer/CTO-type person for 2–5 hours of consulting to:
You don't need to hire this person full-time. You're essentially renting technical judgment.
This is particularly useful because a nontechnical founder can assess communication, product thinking and reliability, but may struggle to distinguish technically strong candidates from impressive talkers.
4. Source 10–20 candidates, rather than hiring the first person who sounds good.
Good sources include:
For your first contractor, relevant shipped work beats an impressive résumé.
Ask:
"Show me something you personally built that is similar to this."
Then:
"What exactly did you build yourself?"
And:
"What was the hardest technical problem?"
5. Do a 30–45 minute founder interview.
You aren't trying to test algorithms.
You're trying to discover:
Ask:
"Tell me what you think we're building."
"What questions would you want answered before you started?"
Good candidates will ask questions you hadn't considered.
Ask:
"Explain how you'd build this to me as if I know nothing about software."
You want someone who can make complicated things understandable.
Ask:
"Here's what I think we should build. What would you change?"
A developer who blindly agrees with everything you say is potentially more dangerous than one who respectfully challenges you.
Ask:
"Tell me about a project where the requirements weren't clear. What did you do?"
6. Don't rely on a coding test. Use a small paid trial.
This is probably the most important part.
Instead of signing a $30,000 contract immediately, give your top 2–3 candidates a small, paid, real-world project.
Something that takes perhaps a few days, not weeks.
For example:
"Take this existing landing page and add the signup flow. Here's the repo, Figma, and acceptance criteria. Give me a working version by Friday."
Pay everyone for their time.
You're looking at:
Real-world work samples are generally much more informative than trying to conduct a technical interview yourself; current hiring practices also increasingly emphasize realistic work trials.
Don't give candidates a giant unpaid take-home project. Make the trial small and paid.
7. Check references yourself.
Ask for 2–3 previous clients/employers.
Don't just ask:
"Was he good?"
Ask:
"What did you hire them to do?"
"What did they actually deliver?"
"How much supervision did they require?"
"What was something they weren't good at?"
"Would you hire them again?"
That last question is particularly useful.
For the first engagement, I'd strongly favor:
Short initial contract → milestones → extension
rather than:
"Here's six months of work."
For example:
Phase 1: 2 weeks — architecture + first working feature
Phase 2: 2 weeks — core product
Phase 3: 2 weeks — beta + bugs
Pay against clearly defined milestones.
Make sure the agreement addresses:
Important: Create the GitHub/cloud/service accounts yourself and give the developer appropriate access. Don't let your contractor become the sole owner of your company's infrastructure.
You should not manage the developer by asking:
"How many hours did you work?"
Instead, manage by outcomes.
I'd have:
Monday: What are you building this week?
Wednesday: Quick async progress update
Friday: Demo working software
Every week you should be able to see something that works.
A simple rule:
If I can't see progress, I don't assume progress exists.
🚩 "I can build anything."
🚩 Can't explain previous work clearly.
🚩 Portfolio contains projects they can't explain technically.
🚩 Gives you an instant estimate without asking questions.
🚩 Says everything you propose is easy.
🚩 Wants a huge upfront payment.
🚩 Doesn't want to use your GitHub/account infrastructure.
🚩 Can't give references.
🚩 Misses the small paid trial deadline without communicating.
🚩 Constantly blames previous clients/developers.
🚩 Uses lots of technical jargon but can't explain what it means.
🚩 Wants to build a massive architecture before validating the product.
🚩 Tells you your MVP needs six months.
I'd make the process:
You → define product → technical advisor → source 15 candidates → interview 5 → paid trial with 2 → reference-check 1 → 2–4 week contract → extend based on results.
The key mindset shift is:
You're not hiring someone to "write code." You're hiring someone to turn product requirements into working software with minimal supervision.
And for a first contractor, seniority + communication + judgment + evidence of shipping are usually more valuable than finding the person with the fanciest résumé. TechCrunch's interviews with startup founders make a similar point: nontechnical founders should focus their own interviews on vision, communication and fit, while getting technical help for deeper technical evaluation.
If you tell me what you're building, your rough budget, and whether you already have a prototype, I can also give you a concrete hiring profile, where I'd look for the developer, what I'd pay, and a 2-week hiring process tailored to it.
