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Hiring bad programmers is so common it's crazy. Most hacker news types probably won't know this, but there are so many startups out there than aren't VC backed and they have a limited dev budget. They try and hire who they think is good, spend all their money on programmer salaries, and then what get's built is a total turd. They never get traction because they keep failing to launch. Company dies. All too common.

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The funny part is they scoff at an extra 50k for a better programmer, and then watch as that cheaper guy that looks good on paper writes a pile of garbage

True, but how can a non-technical founder know who is good, or who is just expensive? I've seen dev consultancies that are very expensive, and they play the part in every way, but they produce total garbage. There really isn't any way to know unless... well you know.

The best way to figure it out is through a vigorous investigation of references I think, but even then, the past projects they worked on may have been better suited to their skills that what you're hiring them for.

They all want to get experienced corporate lawyers for an entry level associate price.

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