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How to Hire Developers for Startups?

So you’ve got a brilliant product idea. The next step is to hire developers for your startup and execute it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Alas, the search for the right candidates often takes longer than the development itself. The thing is, most professional devs already have full-time jobs and only 2.1% are unemployed, so it may take months before you find someone suitable for your project. But don’t worry—even though hiring software developers for a startup is daunting, it is not impossible. AnyforSoft is here to help you find the best candidates for your project. In this article, we dive deep into the software development industry and answer the ultimate question—how to hire developers for a startup and where to find them? Hopefully, this information will help you build a professional product development team that will translate your idea into a profitable business! Challenges when hiring developers for startups Before we describe how you can find a developer for your startup step by step, we would like to discuss the challenges that startup owners face in the hiring process: The first challenge is the reluctance of potential candidates. You see, new startups lack brand credibility—they’re often associated with lower salaries and a lack of stability. Experienced developers tend to avoid them. Instead, they prefer companies established at least a few years ago, as they’re more stable and usually offer better working conditions. Even if you manage to hire programmers for the startup, there is no guarantee that they will stick with you till the end of the project. IT is arguably one of the most competitive industries, with HRs poaching potential developer candidates from each other on a daily basis. Big companies can tempt developers with perks way beyond those of your budget-tight startup. So at the end of the day, some of your developers might leave to your competitors. Last but not least, when hiring in-house developers, a talent pool is limited to your region. Depending on where you live, it might be challenging to find specialists that have the expertise required to successfully create your project. Later in this article, we will explain how to avoid all of these challenges. As for now, let’s jump straight to the main topic and show you the ways of finding developers. How to hire developers for a startup in 5 steps So how to hire programmers for a startup? It takes only five steps to find software developers for your project. Step 1: Determine what type of developers you need You can’t find programmers for a startup without knowing who you are looking for. Depending on the project, you may need to hire different types of developers. Since this article may be read by startuppers unfamiliar with development processes, we first need to explain what types of devs are there and what work they do. To keep it simple, we will divide them into five categories: Software architect. Back-end developer. Front-end developer. Full-stack developer. Mobile developer. Software architect A software architect is a senior-level specialist with a tech background and knowledge of the major cloud providers and CI/CD. They are responsible for creating the architecture and logic behind a software product. Using both front-end and back-end frameworks, architects build complex solutions in accordance with specific business needs and requirements. They can also lead the entire development team, review the product’s code as well as design, and assist less experienced programmers in the software creation process. Back-end developer A back-end developer is responsible for managing the server side of the application. In simple terms, back-end developers create the invisible structure that enables applications to function properly, whereas front-end developers are focused on the visual side. Back-end devs work with databases, scripting, and website architecture. To do their work, they need an excellent command of programming languages (Golang, PHP, Python) as well as knowledge of databases (SQL, MongoDB, Redis, etc), servers, and APIs. Front-end developer As noted above, front-end developers are responsible for the visual side (client side) of the application. In other words, they work with everything the end user might see and interact with. Combining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, front-end devs create user interfaces (UIs), website layouts, navigation elements, and other visual features. A big part of their job is to make the application user-friendly and easy to navigate, ensuring a smooth user journey. Full-stack developer A full-stack developer has enough expertise to work on both the front-end and the back-end side of the software. They’re responsible for creating user interfaces, servers, and databases, providing cross-platform compatibility, developing APIs, ensuring security as well as scalability of the software, and much more. Due to their vast experience and strong technical skills, full-stack developers are quite expensive: the average salary of a full-stack specialist goes beyond $8,000 a month in the US. Mobile developer A mobile developer is a specialist that creates mobile applications. Their main responsibility is to build native applications with platform-specific features and functionality, ensuring compatibility with modern mobile operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and others). Mobile developers leverage various technologies and frameworks, including Objective C, Swift, React Native, Flutter, PhoneGap, and so on. If your project involves creating a mobile app, you should definitely hire a mobile developer. Another question you might have is, how many developers do I need? Well, it depends heavily on your project. If you’re creating an MVP (minimum viable product), one, maximum two specialists, would be enough. Since an MVP is not the final product, having a big software development team isn’t necessary. If you’re working on a serious project, like a big e-learning platform with advanced features and mobile application, then you should definitely have at least three developers: a front-end specialist, a back-end developer, and a mobile developer. Step 2: Know where to hire developers from Once you know who you need, the next step is to finally find a developer for the startup. There are many places where tech talent can be found—the choice of the place will depend on what you need. Do you need an in-house team? Maybe you’re looking for an experienced development company to outsource your project to? Or, perhaps, you want to hire cheap freelance developers? Let us describe the pros and cons of each option and provide you with resources where you can find and then hire developers for new startups. In-house team Having your own in-house team of developers is probably the most expensive option. On the other hand, it provides you with complete control over the project. You can make adjustments whenever you want and communicate directly with your teammates, which will help accelerate the development process. In case of difficulties, you can always call a team meeting and search for a solution together instead of having a long correspondence with a development company or a freelancer. As for the downsides, we already mentioned them above. Long story short, it’s quite difficult to hire startup developers for new projects because such projects lack brand credibility and stability. Also, HRs of bigger companies will be constantly trying to lure your employees away and the talent pool will be limited to the region of your office. But the biggest disadvantage of in-house teams is, of course, the high price. Unfortunately, many beginner startup founders have tight budgets and are unable to pay high monthly salaries. Where to find software developers for in-house work? Local recruiting agencies. Social media websites: LinkedIn, Facebook. Job boards: AngelList, TechCrunch. Platforms for developers: GitHub, StackOverflow. Tech conferences, meetups, and hackathons. Freelance developers Hiring developers for startups from freelance portals is the cheapest option of the three. The biggest plus is that you determine the price of the project development and have all the chances to find developers even with a low budget. In addition to cheapness, hiring freelancers is fast and simple. Just sign up to a freelance portal, create a project, and you will have a dozen of bids from quality candidates in less than an hour. However, before you hire freelance developers, you should be aware of the risks. First, you and a freelancer are not bound by any contract, so there’s no guarantee that the developer you hired will finish the project. They may leave it at any moment without legal consequences. What’s more, many freelancers in the low-budget segment don’t have the strong development skills necessary to develop complex solutions. Therefore, if your project requires expert technical knowledge and an understanding of the intricacies of development processes, you better either invest in an in-house team or outsource your project to an experienced company. Where to find freelance developers? Freelance portals: UpWork, Freelancer, Fiverr. Social media websites: LinkedIn, Facebook. Platforms for developers: GitHub, StackOverflow. Development company Hiring talented developers from a development company is arguably one of the wisest decisions. For starters, the price will be much lower compared to building an in-house team from scratch. Also, such companies will save you from all the challenges described above: you won't have to worry about recruiting candidates and trying to keep them. Besides, the talent pool won’t be limited to your region—you are free to choose developers for startups from any country.