Social Matchbox - Latest Comments

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

Jon — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:38:10 -0000

Way wrong on those salary vs hourly rate figures.

Check out the contract employees handbook - google it....

Rule of thumb : annual salary / 1000 = hourly rate....

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

Travis — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:39:20 -0000

jb> Very interesting post. I am working on a Start-Up, and would like to discuss further details with you. Please email me at travis@529easy.com
Thanks,
-Travis

Re: Visiting Houston & Dallas, Coworking Space Recommendations Wanted

David Thach — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:24:53 -0000

One more that is relatively new to the scene in Dallas: http://startupspaces.biz/

Re: Former Washington Area Startup, Social Gaming Network (SGN), Acquired!

D Mcdonald J — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:54:23 -0000

"SGN’s acquisition is like a book end on the app bonanza" You weren't kidding, a year later and mighty Zynga is posting losses three quarters in a row.

Re: Is This Why Some Startup Founders Are So Intense?

Ryan Critchett — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:49:02 -0000

This is exactly it. Having the extra maniacal edge, is what gives you the actual edge. It's believing you can do anything. It's massive scrutiny to the details. It's an unforgiving, non passive approach to getting the right things done, FAST. AHHHH!!

Re: Launchbox Digital Alumni & Co-Founders of JamLegend Call It Quits

Katie Mangiamele — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:36:19 -0000

this sucks i loved jamlegend, im a poor ass chick that doesnt have guitar hero or rockband and jamlegend was my life! i miss it so much and i wish there was a way to bring it back because every other guitar game thing on the internet is SHITTY. :( please come back jamlegend we miss you!

Re: The Heart of The Start

Kent Julian — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:12:06 -0000

Very well said Bob! Thanks for sharing these great insights. I couldn't agree more when you said that "The most successful startup teams start with people who are working together on something that inspires them". Indeed, working with people who have more or less have the same passion or interest like you do will really create a very positive working environment that will not only mobilize you to be better individually but will also help you work effectively in a team. Also, great points about pointing out passion-driven employment and working relationships. Two thumbs up for you! Keep on inspiring Bob.

Re: How To Find Interns For My Startup

Gayle Barr — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:27:48 -0000

Great information... need a few interns and now have to find the sites that are not out there.

Re: The Heart of The Start

Jafar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:24:26 -0000

very nice article. the dan pink video link was awesome too.

Re: The Heart of The Start

risraelkloss — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:37:36 -0000

Great article, Bob... somebody went from $200k and negotiated down to $100-ish ??? how stupid. that's somebody without a salary game plan just playing games in my mind. They are living in la-la land and I wouldn't hire them if they made me 10k/day... because that's a person who's going to go fishing the next week. That's somebody you should try out on a trial basis ONLY.

Great points about passion-based employment. Also in the words of Steve Jobs... find your passion and the money will follow. That's how I interview. Not interested in a bunch of salary-fishing code monkeys... those types eventually leave no matter how many raises they get because they don't understand what many people understand intuitively in startup world... And which Dan Pink's findings about human nature and the science of motivation confirm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... and http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_p...

Re: Updated List of the Best Washington Coffee Shops To Work From

FM — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:16:38 -0000

You'd actually have to know something about coffee to make these recommendations. Otherwise ... obviously ... it's an article about seats and tables.

Re: Goodzer Raises $650k

Korr Mett — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:02:17 -0000

Goozer? It's Goodzer.

Re: How To Find A Startup Co-Founder

londonink — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:04:10 -0000

Great stuff Robert. Reminds me of a satirical piece I wrote recently for SmartCEO...you might get a kick out of it:

Looking for a business partner is sort of like dating. (Originally published in SmartCEO DC magazine, July ’11 issue)

http://bob-servations.com/2011...

Re: PayByGroup Raises $50k, Gears Up for Angel Round

Wanna B. Founder — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:11:04 -0000

The problem certainly isn't that investors are hungry to make money, they are. The problem is that there are a lot more people masquerading as "investors" who are looking for 401k level risk and payday loan terms than there are seed, angel, and venture capital investors who can (this is very important) put money in and who have related experience (this is even more important). A lot of these "investors" are offering someone else's cash today in exchange for paying them to be your consultant or broker. The kind of people and investors that founders need to surround themselves with are the ones who have the cash and experience to sit at the table and contribute (not just suck the founders' critical and very limited time, money, and attention into a black hole because it is part of the alleged investor's scheme to make money selling consulting services or themselves as a big shot when the reality is that they are just as in need of an investor as the founder they are talking to).

Re: PayByGroup Raises $50k, Gears Up for Angel Round

Wanna B. Angel — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:36:33 -0000

Investors are hungry to make money. If they saw something that they thought could make them money and not just something cool to talk about at holiday parties they would do it. Stop bashing the investors. Bolster your team, your traction and your communication skilz.

Re: A Recipe for Becoming Your Own Technical Founder

Scott Messinger — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:36:29 -0000

I'd agree with this. I did both the web developer and software engineering route at the same time and it takes a tremendous amount of time. Specifically, I find designing for the browsers a massive time sink. If you want to create a web app, I'd outsource the design and pay someone to design the HTML/CSS. This frees you to focus on the interaction (jQuery) and server side.

Re: A Recipe for Becoming Your Own Technical Founder

Scott Messinger — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:36:06 -0000

Re: How To Find A Startup Co-Founder

Guest — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:14:28 -0000

Thanks for the article!

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

Bob — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:27:26 -0000

If a founder can interview effectively then they are going to fail. In that case they should do their homework or hire someone to be their technical interviewer who can help. I know some people that do this on a by the interview basis with potential finalists. The bottom line is that some things should not be attempted by people - if it is a small project with low costs and low risks then that is different than a big project with high costs and high risk.

In my experience, and I've checked a LOT (in the hundreds) of references, the references only round out the picture and confirm suspicions or add new ones. Occasionally a reference changes things positively, but more often than not they are just validation. More often than not the references provided are either biased, very biased, or lacking - e.g. not a direct supervisor, not a direct peer. An inexperienced founder isn't going to be very good at interviewing much less in reference checking, especially not at something very specialized that they know very little about - this adds to the challenge.

I agree with you about the assumption that a startup will fail. However, there are predictors of failure and success and as a developer or freelancer you are just as responsible for doing due diligence on your prospective client or founder as they are on you. Let's distinguish between technical co-founder, early employee, and freelancer though. As a freelancer things are different. If they are moved by what you are doing that may make them more passionate, but that should not change what they are charging. Charity isn't and shouldn't be thought of as a motivator. There are a lot of freelancers who end up being very loyal to startups and the two can co-exist and support each other along the way. I've been a beneficiary and party to this and seen it with a lot of others. This is awesome when it happens and both benefit tremendously. On the other hand, technical co-founder and early employee considerations are different. You can find someone interested, but that alone isn't good enough. I run into people all the time that bond over open source projects, friendships, etc., but in a startup (a for profit one anyway) that stuff is not what should be the basis for the work alone - those things are a nice bonus. What is crucial is that the founder and the co-founder(s) and/or employees take the time to sort out what is important and what will be sufficient motivation. Sweat equity is a dumb idea in most cases simply because the value of it is constantly in question when the startup has a bad day, week, month, year, etc. Startups have a lot of tough times and this will crush an employee's motivation. Sweat equity is much better when it is a true co-founder and not someone who came on later, after the idea was in progress. Early equity can be a nice bonus to cash though. Cash is typically going to be the best and most consistent motivator. Again, I'm talking from experience here too. You need steady motivation from your team, not on and off motivation - cash has that and equity alone does not. For employees, you have to make absolute certain that your employees are in it for the equity. I know a lot of people who treat equity as a non-motivator or joke altogether. They want the same pay they would get anywhere, regardless of the equity. These types of people are not right for an early stage startup - no amount of equity will change that for them.

Regarding your point about Pro-NBA players, I think you are right. Even still, someone like Sean Parker or Max Levchin won't come work for you because the pay is there. There are Pro-NBA players who will take cash to play an exhibition that they might not otherwise do. Founders who encounter freelancers who think of themselves in that sort of way should keep looking - they will be better off. There are plenty of people out there - he low hanging fruit (the people who have put themselves out there in the most prolific way and who charge through the roof rates) isn't the best..

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

jb — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:02:25 -0000

It's certainly difficult to determine whether someone can deliver what they're offering or whether they'll wilt when faced with the actual work. That's a tough analysis to make, especially for someone who isn't that experienced in tech matters. I think good references are probably the safest indicator.

I'm an experienced developer and here's my thought process when someone approaches me to work on a startup:

First off, I assume that their startup will fail. The vast majority do, often for reasons outside of the founders' control. I don't know of many that fail for technical reasons. Ideally you would want to hire someone that shares your total belief in the startup but finding that coupled with strong technical skill is a rarity. You should be looking for someone who can deliver what you need - if they love your idea that's a bonus.

Since I'm assuming that the startup will fail I treat it as a professional transaction and not something that I'm going to get heavily emotionally invested in. That means I'm charging market rates. It doesn't matter what calculations you've done because the market doesn't normally care about that. Unfortunately I think ignorance of market rates is a sign that someone isn't an savvy developer so it might be difficult finding a suitable candidate that will accept less. No one ever argues that Kobe's Bryant's salary is ridiculous compares to what he needs to live on. You pay what it takes to get someone to work for you.

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

Bob — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:25:00 -0000

There are too many who do. Not everyone is the right person for your startup. The point is that a bootstrapping startup founder should not be asked to pay the highest rate that a freelancer has ever heard of. It isn't in the best interest of the freelancer to charge such a high rate that it makes progress or project success a guaranteed failure. They should know that if they charge a reasonable rate that they will help the founder succeed and by doing so they will get more steady and long term business as opposed to a founder who is constantly checking over their shoulder because they feel that the freelancer is taking advantage of them.

As far as cost comparisons are concerned, you make a good point. However, I know from extensive (I'm not kidding) interviews of freelance developers, designers, etc. that they are not in a bind over the cost of office furniture. A desk from Ikea (often preferred) costs under $200 and a chair is usually under $150. Internet costs around $50/mo and a data hotspot plan on a mobile device is around $20/mo. These are all costs they would have regardless of whether they were freelancing or not - most people have desks, chairs, and cell phones, and most geeks have aggressive data plans for their phones and mobile devices. Coffee? Sure, maybe, but that doesn't account for a major difference. You are right about the health plans and retirement savings. Those can be expensive and if someone is freelancing full time I've seen plans from $150-850/mo. At the high end of the range that is $5 and change per hour added on. The real cost is largely lifestyle choices - someone choosing to live downtown in an expensive place and who buys expensive things frequently vs. someone who isn't spending wildly. The fact that there are some people who live more expensively and charge accordingly should not be an influence of the market rate for everyone else. This is a drawback to the increased flow if information, especially in major cities.

A bigger issue here is that founders need to get savvier about telling the difference from a gold digger and a person who is a quality person who is good at what they need to get done. There are too many people who are slick sales types who will promise that they can do anything, or they will promise they will do something and then farm it out to others - founders should be wary of them.

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

socialmatchbox — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:40:56 -0000

It sounds like you have a very specific end point in mind. Software projects like the one you are describing rarely end up exactly like you have envisioned that they will. Without knowing a lot more about what you are trying to do it is really hard to say. If you want something that conforms to a tighter budget and isn't going to have a lot of loops and curves to go through along the way then you might (I hate saying this) want to consider looking at Drupal or a similar open source content mangament system with social network capabilities already developed. There are a lot of customization options with it and you could end up with something very custom as far as your end goals are concerned. More importantly, you should consider that building a social network is not a small undertaking. One developer probably is not going to be enough. Even the smart, agile, experienced developers who are working on new projects tend to prefer to start with something smaller that fits a need but that can be scaled gradually. Twitter is a good example of that. Another example might be taking something like Drupal or even an app that hooks into the Facebook API (for example) or that uses Facebook connect to build some of what you want.

Starting with something smaller has other advantages too. You can work with a developer and figure out if you and he or she get along well, they are productive, etc. without as much risk initially. Planning and staging for a major project can take time and resources too.

As far as user groups go, I would recommend finding something that is close enough to you to get there early and stay late. Something that you won't mind making it out to for 5-6 evenings, maybe more. With that in mind, and depending on where you are (ping me by email and we can discuss more - contact@socialmatchbox.com) I'd check out the Ruby on Rails, Python (Django) or PHP (Zend or Symphony - but not if they are talking a lot about Drupal and/or Joomla at that particular meetup, unless you want to go that route). Rails people tend to be hard to get and expensive, Python people tend to be more prolific in some towns over others and at universities, PHP people are everywhere (see notes above). Anyone you talk to should have solid command of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript (they should know JQuery - not optional).

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

socialmatchbox — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:26:56 -0000

contact@socialmatchbox.com

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

socialmatchbox — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:26:29 -0000

This IS the author, and the author completely considers that there is an _ENORMOUS_ range in ability and intelligence. The best people do get paid better, but the reality is that some of the best and brightest people in the world are not looking for the best pay. Consider that some people join the peace corps, work for activist organizations, take jobs working as teachers, etc. while others take jobs working in the war zones as consultants, work for hedge funds, and for large multi-national companies that are not exactly doing nice things to people all the time. Everyone is entitled to making their own choices about what they do with their own time so long as their actions do not infringe on the rights of others. More for the sake of more isn't good for programmers. In your previous comment you talk about "cheap, immigrant" labor". There is a point where the rate of a certain category of labor reaches where it is not reasonable. If an entire community of programmers start charging at a rate that is not reasonable then companies will look for alternatives to that community. Sites like Freelancer.com, odesk, and others often enter the picture but so do offshore development shops. As a lawyer you are probably aware of immigrant visas. There are plenty of people who are willing to work hard and learn skills. Modern day America was built by immigrants - it isn't a stretch to imagine modern day software in America being built by the descendants of them along with new immigrants.
Regarding substitution for lawyers at top firms, sure, there are lots of lawyers out there. Some are productive, some are not. If you have some valid statistics on how many lawyers there are vs. how many programmers there are I would be interested in taking a look at them. I would bet on there being a shortage of productive java, ruby (on rails), php (zend or symphony) and python (Django) programmers that is off the charts when compared to any such shortage of lawyers. The same problem exists. There are lots of lawyers, but not as many who are specialists who are productive and affordable. One major difference though - law schools are having trouble finding jobs for their graduates while computer science grad programs are not. I know because I talk to both.

Re: How To Find A Programmer To Build Your Startup Idea

socialmatchbox — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:13:53 -0000

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but that doesn't make it right. Quantity doesn't have anything to do with quality. Software startup companies insist on people who can sit down, productively write code (just knowing about open source isn't the same as productively writing code), and get along well with a team. There are plenty of companies that hire anyone off the street with the philosophy being that they can micromanage them to the point of being productive programmers. If they can do it and get the job done that is great. You are welcome to create a Job seeker profile here on Social Matchbox and then send me a note - I'll take a look at your experience and skill set and see if there is anything I can recommend.