Thread by @tylertringas

How to hire your 1st software developer (for technical founders with a growing business):

1/ Keep a running list of development jobs that are
* well encapsulated
* high value but non-urgent

like:
* upgrading dependcies
* internal admin dashboards
* long-term performance tweaks

2/ Write a job description
* explaining your tech stack
* articulate your work style
* emphasize growth opportunities
* ask for work samples

3/ Post the job description widely.

4/ Interview candidates primarily using the same tools you use at work. If you mostly Slack, invite them there. Mostly Basecamp, add them to a project. Don't Zoom with them if you rarely use Zoom day to day.

5/ Do some work to make your development multiplayer if not already. Set up proper staging env, Github PRs, etc. You'll need these on Day 1 anyway.

6/ Pull an example task out of your backlog from #1 and do the work to turn it into an example project. Pay a few candidates a fair price to literally do that work. Consider having them all do the same project for comparison.

7/ Look for more than just code quality:
* Do they understand how you present requirements
* Do they work quickly
* Are they self-motivated
* Do they ask the right questions

These can matter more than raw development "skill" in a small team.

8/ Make an offer for a 1-2 month trial period "to decide whether we both like actually working together"

Pull from your queue in #1 so you have plenty for them to get working on right way.

Haters: I don't think this is necessarily the best and definitely not the *only* way to hire, but pretty frequently meet solo technical founders who hit the point of needing to hire more developers and have no idea how, this is one way that works.