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Comment by bks | Hacker News Reader

So where does one go to find a really really good product builder. And no, oDesk, elance, getafreelancer are not where I want to take this. Preference would be to get a 90-120 day plan, build it with some local USA developers and get this moving fast.

Is there a paddock of "Internet Guns for hire" that work on this and are proven?

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Not that I've ever heard of.

From my experience, your best bet is to find someone you trust that is a great programmer (even if they can't work for you), and have them vet candidates for you. The truth of the matter is that there is an amazing lack of correlation between people who seem (to non-techs) to know what they're talking about, and people who actually know what's going on.

I've been asked to do this for a couple non-tech founder friends. All I really do is have a fairly casual 20-30 minute conversation with the job candidate about the state of whatever tech the product will be built in - "what's the quirkiest thing you've found in iOS?", "which backend platforms do you like? why that one instead of this one?", etc. Throw in a question about big O notation if you think this job requires some CS knowledge.

It's generally pretty easy to see who can walk the walk, without resorting to grilling candidates with trivia or detailed hypotheticals.

Now I know why I want to look completely incompetent!

But, seriously, I agree.

Or look for a really good technical project manager with a proven track record of rapidly building a technical team and driving them to execute (I know, I know all you hackers are laughing at this post because 99% of the PMs you've worked with are crap and have zero understanding of technical issues - but if you can find that 1%, they can be invaluable).

Go on Github. Search for programmers in your area/using your technology. Check out their projects and send them introduction emails.

You could also look through Craigslist.

Definitely get them on the phone. Anyone that doesn't want to meet or talk to you isn't worth your time.

Thank you, I am located in California - now comes the part of the searching process and calling friends who are in Silicon Valley and ask for referrals

Usually, it's people you've worked with before and that want to work with you again. You call X, you say: quit your job, work with me on this.

Failing this (which might be the case), find that first person, give them equity, and they will find those people.

I would be interested in contributing. Is there someway I can contact you to determine if my skills match what you are looking to build ?

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