Hiring Your First Developer: A Non-Technical Founder's Guide

The most stressful hire for non-technical founders: your first developer.

You can’t evaluate their skills. You don’t know market rates. You’re terrified of hiring someone who’ll waste months and money.

I’ve made this hire (and gotten it wrong) multiple times. Here’s what I’ve learned.

First: Do You Actually Need a Developer?

Before hiring, exhaust alternatives:

No-code tools: Bubble, Webflow, Glide. You can build surprisingly functional products without code.

AI assistance: Claude and GPT-4 can help you prototype. Not production-ready, but good for validation.

Agencies for MVP: Sometimes a fixed-price agency project makes more sense than a hire.

If you’ve validated demand and need custom software, okay. Hire a developer. Otherwise, keep scraping by.

Employee vs Contractor vs Agency

Full-time employee: Best for core product work. Expensive (salary + benefits + management time). Appropriate when you have 6+ months of clear work.

Contractor: Flexible. Can scale up/down. Works for defined projects. Harder to build deep product knowledge.

Agency: Expensive per hour but experienced teams. Good for MVPs where you need speed. Less good for ongoing iteration.

For your first technical hire, I usually recommend starting with a contractor. Lower commitment. Easier to correct mistakes.

Where to Find Developers

For employees:

  • LinkedIn (yes, really)
  • AngelList / Wellfound
  • Your network (ask everyone)
  • Local meetups and Slack communities

For contractors:

  • Toptal (expensive but vetted)
  • Upwork (hit or miss, requires skill to evaluate)
  • Gun.io
  • Referrals from other founders

Agencies:

  • AI consultants Sydney for AI-specific projects
  • Local agencies for general development
  • Referrals are crucial here—check their previous work

What to Actually Look For

Technical skills matter less than:

Communication: Can they explain things you don’t understand? Do they ask clarifying questions?

Problem-solving: Give them a hypothetical problem. Watch how they think through it.

Ownership mentality: Will they tell you when your idea is bad? Or just build whatever you say?

Relevant experience: Not just “development” but development in your space. E-commerce dev is different from fintech dev.

Reasonable rates: Very cheap often means inexperienced or overseas time zones. Very expensive doesn’t guarantee quality.

The Evaluation Process

Since you can’t evaluate code directly:

  1. Technical screen by someone who can code: Pay a technical advisor or friend for 2 hours. Have them interview your candidates.

  2. Paid trial project: Give a small, paid project (1-2 weeks). See how they work, communicate, deliver.

  3. Reference checks: Actually call their previous clients/employers. Ask specific questions about reliability and quality.

  4. Portfolio review: Look at their past work. Does it actually work? Is it polished?

Don’t skip the trial project. It’s the best signal you’ll get.

Red Flags

Run away if they:

  • Can’t explain technical concepts simply
  • Promise everything and give no pushback
  • Won’t do a trial project
  • Have no verifiable past work
  • Blame previous clients for all problems
  • Won’t discuss rates openly
  • Overpromise on timelines

What to Pay

Australian market rates (2024):

Junior (0-2 years): $60,000-80,000 salary / $40-60/hour contract

Mid (2-5 years): $90,000-130,000 salary / $70-100/hour contract

Senior (5+ years): $140,000-180,000+ salary / $100-150/hour contract

These vary by city, specialty, and demand. AI and machine learning command premium.

Offshore contractors are cheaper ($15-50/hour) but add communication overhead and time zone challenges.

Managing Developers When You’re Not Technical

  1. Define outcomes, not tasks: “Users can sign up and login” not “Build authentication system”
  2. Weekly demos: See working software every week. Not reports. Working software.
  3. Ask questions: “Why is this taking longer than expected?” is valid. Don’t accept “it’s complicated.”
  4. Trust but verify: Get occasional outside reviews of code quality.
  5. Learn the basics: Spend a weekend with a coding tutorial. You don’t need to code, but understanding concepts helps.

My Biggest Mistakes

Hiring too senior: Paid for expensive expertise we didn’t need yet. A good mid-level would have been perfect.

Not doing trial projects: Hired based on interviews alone. Should have tested with real work first.

Tolerating poor communication: Developer was technically fine but couldn’t explain decisions. Made everything harder.

Learn from my pain. Do trial projects. Prioritize communication. Match seniority to your actual needs.