How to Find & Hire Developers for Startup in the early stage

Why does a team matter?

Two heads are always better than one. Even if you are able to generate outstanding ideas, you need someone who will implement them in real life. Good products are not just about creativity, they are about work. The right people nearby will make this much easier.

Challenges of growing a startup team

Running a startup has a lot of pitfalls. However, startup owners can learn a lot from examples, that’s why analyzing issues, the other companies have to deal with, is very helpful. Check out the list of problems you must prepare for.

Hiring issues

Most tech startups start alone or with a couple of dedicated friends, but it is not enough to grow, and one day you’ll need to hire more developers. There are a lot of software developers to choose from, but it is not so easy to decide who in this pool is your perfect match and where to find a programmer for startups.

When hiring software developers for startups, you need to write an attractive job ad, then gather a lot of CVs and schedule interviews. Be wary, as candidates may have a great background and technical knowledge, but poor soft skills. Hiring developers definitely takes you a lot of time and energy, even if you have a professional recruiter in your team.

No warm onboarding

Once you’ve found your developers, it’s on to your next concerns, and your employees’ satisfaction is one of them.

You may offer an interesting project with huge opportunities, but what about the warm onboarding for software developers? Working on the MVP development, you most likely don’t have a budget to satisfy extravagant needs, in terms of the office with free breakfast, lunch, snacks and rooftop Friday beers. Developers’ quality of work will reflect, if they don’t like the surrounding atmosphere.

Distributing roles 

Even if you’ve landed a couple of developers who are the lifeblood of your future product, you still don’t have enough teammates. As a result, you have to ask your colleagues to juggle between tasks. It needs to be considered: Who will interact with prospective investors? Who is in charge of competitors’ analysis? While you want your team to multitask, overloading them with too many tasks will definitely lead to burn out.

Managing finances 

While building your dream team, it’s still important to be mindful that you need to be careful with budgets and follow a carefully planned financial strategy. This can be especially difficult when working with freelance developers.

Security threats

Modern businesses face modern challenges. The bigger your startup gets, the more security threats you should be prepared for. With searching for different development partners and working with them on a daily basis, it is essential to have robust protection for all the data your team has access to.

Take time to think over any security threats

Communication issues

It is hard to find software engineers, but keeping the startup’s team on the same page is as difficult as building the platform from scratch. Sometimes it is impossible to come to a mutual understanding between team members, and the more tech talent you have in your team, the more complicated the task becomes. Each person has their own vision, approach, and ways to organize the work routine, and their communication is important not only with you, but with all team members. It is a vicious circle that may become crucial for the development process of an early-stage startup.

Three hiring strategies to consider

The challenges we have described above shouldn’t scare you. The more you know about them, the better prepared you are, and the more confident you are. You should also know that there are various hiring approaches to choose from. They have their advantages and disadvantages, and it is impossible to say that one is better than the others. However, it is possible to define the best option according to your start position and hire remote developers for your startup that meets all your expectations. Let’s see what your perfect match is!

In-House Team 

The most traditional approach is to directly hire the staff you need. According to Statista’s report on global recruitment plans for IT developers, 54 percent of HR professionals stated that they were looking to hire up to 50 developers in 2024. 

However, we can’t say for sure that this approach works for new startups. Let’s analyze it from a few different angles, and understand whether this strategy is what you’re looking for.

Advantages

Building an in-house team, you:

• • Hire developers for your startup who are looking for stable work. You may share common goals and build the platform together.
  • Develop your company culture and make the whole team a representative of your future brand.
  • Communication within a dedicated team is easier, as everyone is working from one place.
  • Interact with people who have in-depth project knowledge, as they work on it every day.

Disadvantages

However, this approach is not always best, because:

• • You need to spend a lot of time and effort to hire developers for your startup with the required background, skills, and vision. Some parts of the project grind to a halt if you don’t know where to find software developers for your startup.
  • There are a lot of extra expenses, including taxes, health insurance, office rent. Your in-house team is on the payroll, and you can’t just suspend the project if you run out of budget, your developers will find another job.
  • You can’t just fire full-time developers because they are protected by contract terms.
  • Sometimes you need to focus on human resources, rather than the development of your idea and the product itself. Even if you don’t have the appropriate education and skills.

Freelancers 

The second strategy is to find programmers for a startup who are working on a freelance basis. This approach is very popular these days. You can just open Upwork or other freelance platforms, post your job ad, and receive a dozen applications from developers located in different countries. This coin has two sides as well. 

Advantages

• • It is possible to hire a skilled programmer at a low rate. Developers outside the USA and Europe will cost you less, but without much sacrifice in skill.
  • You need to pay only for the finished part of the project, without covering any expenses like sick leaves, vacations, office rent, and so on. 
  • Whenever you need it, you can change your team: end the arrangement with a freelancer easily, and find new developers for your startup to replace them.
  • An NDA contract will help you to avoid main security issues working with freelance developers.

Disadvantages

• • The hiring process is still very exhausting. You need to go through many websites, interviews, check test assignments, etc. Some developers claim they are professional while they’re not, and you can’t determine their real level immediately.
  • Hiring remote developers for startups from different countries and working online, you need to set effective management practices inside the team. Otherwise, the workflow may become disorganized, and potential project setbacks can appear.
  • It takes time to build trust with new team members. 
  • As it is easy to fire freelance developers, the freelancer can terminate the agreement on short notice for a more interesting project (or better paid).

Outsource team

Hiring an outsourced team is the third strategy, and the most efficient option for the early-stage startup. Of course, this approach may have its disadvantages as well, so let us provide you with the full picture.

Advantages

• • You hire the team ready to go: you can find a software developer, but also a PM, UI\UX designer, QA engineer, etc.
  • You don’t take much risk: each development agency has its success stories, and you can explore projects that it has already completed.
  • There is no need to organize team management: if you find software engineers from a good outsource development agency, already all workflow and business processes are organized.
  • You’ll have a personal manager as a point of contact, who acts as a mediator between you and the team and provides you with transparent reports.
  • If you need to take a pause with your project, just do it. Your development team will be ready once you decide to continue.
  • You can expect professional experience. The outsourcing company has already made mistakes and learned from them, and software developers know exactly what you want from them. They may also share their ideas to make your platform better.
  • You have legal guarantees that the outsourcing company will get the job done and your concept ideas are safe.

Disadvantages

• • Most likely you’ll work in different time zones, but it is not a problem with good time management. Your manager can appoint meetings suitable at times.
  • If you have some security worries, ask the outsourcing company to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

How to find developers for a startup in 8 steps

We suggest following these steps to hire developers for building your platform:

Step 1. Set your goals

Startup founders should start with determining the goal of their project. For this, you may ask yourself the following questions:

• • Which problem does my app solve?
  • What benefit will this platform bring to its users?
  • How will this solution stand out in the market? What are my advantages over similar platforms?
  • What will it look like? How can I provide a better user experience?

At this stage, you may potentially need to get in touch with consultants or experienced professionals to seek help with analytics or organizational aspects. Either way, this is a stage when you decide on your goal to be attained.

Step 2. Define the job

Once you know the goal of your project and have some ideas about your future team, it’s time to define the objectives. This is important both for you and the candidates as they need to be clear what is required during the app development. At this step, ask yourself questions like these:

• • Do I need to create a UI/UX design concept?
  • Which pages will my platform consist of?
  • What are the most necessary features to include?
  • Do I need several versions of my platform, including mobile, web, and desktop?

Let’s say, you’ve decided to develop a food delivery platform. Depending on the chosen business model, you may need a customer-side app, a restaurant-side app, and sometimes a courier’s app. Each one of them usually includes an authorization page, dashboard (or a list of restaurants with their menus on the client side), and an opportunity to make or accept an order. Which development tasks does your project need to have for your potential employees?

Step 3. Define the skill sets you need

Only after the previous two steps will you make a decision on what type of developers your project really needs. Keep your goals and objectives in mind, while putting your team together. To get more clarity, you may ask yourself some of these questions:

• • What tech stack should I choose for the project?
  • How many frontend, backend or full stack developers do I need?
  • Do I need to hire mobile developers?
  • Does the project require the expertise of senior programmers? Can I hire middle and junior developers?

If you managed to answer at least some of the questions, we congratulate you on your knowledge of the development process. Yet, it’s okay for an entrepreneur to have no idea about the number of developers you’ll need. That’s why we provide free project consultations — let’s schedule a meeting and determine the skill sets you need.

Step 4. Choose the hiring strategy

While hiring, startup founders have different employment models to explore. You can hire the whole in-house team of full time developers, find freelancers, or get in touch with an outsourced team. All of these approaches are valid and you need to decide what is better for you and your startup.

Choose a hiring strategy before the recruitment

Step 5. Search for candidates

There are different ways to search for the right developers, depending on the hiring strategy. Although it may seem complex at the first, it really boils down to three paths.

You may employ a traditional approach, post a vacancy and wait for top-notch tech talents to apply. It’s a long process, but you’ll need to spend more time setting things up and setting up an organizational structure.

Conversely, you may use talent marketplaces like Guru, Freelancer, or Upwork. If you search for a freelance remote developer for a small task or project, you just need to find candidates with the right tech background, contact them and get your task done.

But if you’re limited in time and need a full team for a complex app, your safest bet is hiring a development agency. If you manage to find the right one, you are getting a well-oiled machine with tons of relevant experience that will guide you through every step of the app development.

Step 6. Conduct a thorough interview

No matter which hiring strategy you’ll choose, we recommend organizing a proper interview. At the meeting, you can ask about the team’s (or employee’s) past experience with similar projects, desktop and mobile app development, check their skills, share ideas, and even come up with new ones.

It’s not only about the team’s hard skills, but about the soft skills as well. While speaking, you may learn about their approach to work, communication skills, language proficiency, and relationship building abilities, with you as a client. You should also pay attention to their way of solving the problems that may occur in the future.

Pay attention to candidates’ communication skills

Step 7. Discuss the working terms

Try not to rush things and devote some time to discussing the working terms. Describe your expectations to the development team, get their take on it, and find a working model. Make the process as clear as possible to avoid misunderstanding in the future.

Consider setting a trial period to make sure you’re on the same page. Don’t forget to ensure that both parties mutually agree to the payment terms, instead of simply trying to negotiate the lowest rates possible, consider it as a worthy investment in your app.

Step 8. Do the paperwork

When you hire developers, don’t forget to formalize the working specifics, like hourly rates, with a contract. Early stage startups may face difficulties during this step if the founders aren’t experienced in the matter of labor law and contracts. So don’t hesitate to ask experts for help if you aren’t sure. It may seem like an unnecessary expense, but you’ll lose much more if something goes wrong further down the road.

Where to find and hire developers for your startup

Here are the most effective ways to hire developers for your startup:

1. Top lists of remote development agencies 

Search for a trustworthy top list of development companies. Contact a development agency from the list, with a portofolio you find promising. Ask them to provide you with professional employees who’ll help you with project completion. You can choose either an outstaffing or outsourcing model of cooperation. Take remote options into consideration, as such an approach really expands the range of talented developers working all over the world.

This way of finding developers is used by many startup owners because you can hire developers who have already successfully worked with each other.

Use international opportunities, while hiring a development company

2. Freelancing platforms

Go to Upwork or any similar platform with specialized job boards and an opportunity to hire freelance developers. There you can post job ads and find programmers for building your app, view their profiles, and discuss working terms in the chat. But be careful: not all of the remote freelancers are as consistent and responsible.

3. Buzz marketing

Ask others in your field, if they know any worthy development agencies or independent freelancers. Usually it’s better to hire someone after getting honest reviews from past clients about their work. Any information will be useful (even bad experiences) as it saves your time on filtering out unsuitable candidates.

However, the buzz marketing method works only if your fellow startups and entrepreneurs already have some experience with developing mobile or desktop platforms. But you may become a pioneer, and that’s when the next method proves to be useful.

Buzz marketing really helps sometimes

4. Search on the Internet

What’s a universal solution to any problem in the 21st century? “Google it!” Just enter your query into the search box and browse development agencies’ sites or some employees’ social-media accounts.

This method of recruitment is quite time-consuming, but it gives you access to a global talent pool. This way, you can get an impression of the potential candidates’ way of presenting themselves.

5. Corporate blogs and social networks

If you’re reading this, you know what we’re talking about. When you come across an interesting corporate blog, don’t hesitate to examine the company’s portfolio, frameworks they work with, and their outsourcing options. Even if you don’t need it right now, it’s better to have some useful contacts just in case.

You can also check some online platforms or professional networks like LinkedIn. Most employees and companies have accounts there and tell other users about their projects and accomplishments.

Pay attention not only to potential candidates’ cases, but to the publication dates. The portfolio should be regularly updated to show that the company is in high demand.

6. IT-conferences, contests, networking events

There are lots of business events where entrepreneurs and developers interact with each other to share their development experience. You can find both online and offline IT-conferences and networking meetings. If you have a chance, visit one of them and try to find and then hire some good developers with relevant experience.

As a nice bonus, potential candidates who visit these professional events usually really care about what they do and know the latest trends of the industry.

Pitfalls of hiring developers for a startup

Let’s take a quick look at some common problems that startups face while searching for the right developers:

A pool of candidates is limited

Even though there are more developers available, more and more job posts appear, so they are still in great demand. It may take a lot of time to hire a qualified programmer for your startup because most skilled developers are already employed. The thing is, you usually need several IT specialists who possess much more than basic tech knowledge. This means, it’s not just a one-time, but a continuous process of searching for suitable tech talents.

No HR department

Hiring an HR department doesn’t seem like a smart choice for an early-stage startup. So, you have to do all the headhunting and interviews by yourself. Recruitment takes your time, energy, and may turn out to be not that effective, as it’s unlikely you are also an HR specialist. That’s why hiring full-time web or mobile app developers for your startup may become quite a challenge.

Financial problems

In contrast to large corporations, early-stage startups with limited budgets can’t afford to sustain a whole in-house development department. Because if they hire in-house employees, they’re obliged to pay not only for the developers’ salaries but also for social security, annual leave, and so on. From this perspective, outsourcing app development to a trusted company seems like a good idea. The prices are more affordable, and you don’t need to worry about any extra costs.

Manage your finances carefully with Purrweb

Overcome challenges easily with Purrweb

Starting a new business can be tough, especially at the early stages. But we know how to help startupers cope with difficulties on the way and work smarter. We’re a huge team of experts with years of experience who will transform your ideas and solutions into reality without costing too much. Let’s see how exactly we’re going to tackle your problems.

Available specialists

Startups often grapple with the challenge of hiring a developer for their projects. Here’s where Purrweb steps in, offering a vast talent pool of proficient developers. We also pay attention to your niche and do our best to find developers who’re familiar with it. We form a tech team of good developers skilled in particular frameworks according to your project’s needs. So, Purrweb provides multiple options, ensuring that you’ll find the ideal match for your niche and project.

Proven professionals

When hiring, we thoroughly check applicants’ working skills, and ask about previous projects. Before some of the shortlisted candidates join our team, they have to pass advanced tests. This way, we ensure that only good developers will make the cut. So, when startups team up with Purrweb, they avoid the problematic recruitment process, while still working with developers who are experienced and incredibly skilled.

You get easy access to these battle-tested experts who offer top-notch services. As a result, you have a team of professionals who understand startups’ unique challenges and help them succeed in the competitive market.

Reasonable costs

We understand that startups need to be prudent with their spending. So, we offer a cost-effective solution without compromising on quality. This combination of affordability and expertise makes Purrweb an essential development partner for startups.

Our clients often start with developing an MVP to make sure that their ideas come off and bring in more than they’ve invested. We also save their time on finding a development team (working with necessary frameworks and programming languages), so the startupers can spend it on other important tasks.

These are approximate prices for our development services:

Wrapping up

You may choose the approach you like the most, since it is your project. However, you can learn from the best practices, so don’t miss the opportunity. Choose a dedicated outsource company to develop an outstanding MVP and grab the investors’ attention. To have a chat with us and discover what we offer to our startup clients, fill in the form below.