how do early stage startups hire ninja programmers

Question

I am programmer who just started working on a startup idea. At the moment I want to bring onboard at least one programmer. This programmer should be a ninja - a 10x engineer.

Since early days are probably the most risky for a startup, I want to make sure I approach this problem the best I can.

How do I find these people? and How do I convince them to come onboard?

I would love to hear from people who started their own companies and what their thoughts are about hiring

Update: I would like to get the ninja as a co-founder so besides being a ninja (ie. great programmer with computer science background) he/she has to have a healthy appetite for risk (for great programmers this is not a big deal because they can be hired anytime into mainstream jobs if the startup doesn't work)

Answer 1

Pay lots of money. If they can't do that they offer stock options and nice perks like free food, drink, nice working environment with latest equipment and good benefits. Basically you have to give them something worthwhile, no one is interested in making you rich for their toil.

Answer 2

According to "Rapid Development", the following factors are the top 10 motivators for programmers.

1. Achievement
2. Possibility for growth
3. Work itself
4. Personal life
5. Technical-supervision opportunity
6. Advancement
7. Interpersonal relations, peers
8. Recognition
9. Salary
10. Responsibility

If you want to hire a top-tier developer, you need to consider what's most important to software developers and offer your prospective developer what he wants: a challenging, satisfying project that won't take over his life.

Answer 3

Networking is required not only for job hunters, but for employers as well. Go to meetups and conferences and try to find good programmers who are on the market. I'm the last person in the world who should be giving you advice on how to do that (I hate networking), but it's worth mentioning.

Answer 4

Successful startups? It's about who you know. In fact, it's a fairly bad sign for a start-up if they need to post ads looking for programmers. That means that the founders couldn't convince any of their hundreds of programming acquaintances to get on board with the idea.

Unsuccessful startups? They tend to have too many "original founders" and managers, and not enough programmers willing to sacrifice major parts of their lives on a risky idea.

Quite simply, think of the ninja programmers you already know, your friends, and ask them. If not one of them is interested, or wants to let their other ninja friends know about it, then you may want to reconsider your strategy, service, or product until they do. Think about all of the successful startup stories. It's always a group of friends or people who already knew and worked with each other.

Answer 5

I think your main challenge will be identifying the superstar programmers. You'll get all kinds of applicants if you just say "I'll give you a truckload of money." The choice of programming language will help. Your applicants will be mostly commodity programmers if you use C# or Java. By commodity programmers I mean those who are only doing programming for the money and don't care about learning anything beyond what is necessary to complete whatever task happens to be in front of them. EDIT: I'm not claiming that all C#/Java programmers have this attitude. I personally know some who are very competent and dedicated. But finding them can be difficult.

If you use Haskell or Common Lisp, commodity programmers won't be interested because there aren't large numbers of Haskell and Common Lisp jobs posted on search sites [EDIT: not to mention the standard criticisms of Haskell (looks like line noise, slow) and Common Lisp (archaic, too many parentheses, macros are dangerous)]. You'll get people who are very dedicated to learning and able to pick up powerful concepts that the average developer would have trouble with. Examples of these concepts would be monads in Haskell or Lisp macros. If you want the best, these are the people you want.

Answer 6

Get a booth at a developer conference. Demonstrate a proof-of-concept and let people know you're hiring.

Answer 7

Your update "I would like to get the ninja as a co-founder..." tells me loud and clear you WON'T be paying ninja money. You're hoping to bring in somebody to make your vision turn out without compensating them, and instead promising them heaps of riches at some future time.

As somebody who's heard that tune before: good luck with that.

Answer 8

I think that in most situations they use the Texas Sharpshooter recruiting approach.

That is, they hire the best they can find, then call them "Ninjas", "Rock stars", or whatever it takes to convince the VC guys that their Web 2.0 App will be da-bomb and no one else could possibly compete with them.

Answer 9

The start-ups that get the best programmers do tend to be the ones started by really great programmers. So, I guess, Mission A is to become a really great programmer.

One thing I will say- when I worked freelance there were a lot of people who "had this really great idea" but they wouldn't say what it was unless I was ready to sign a 200 page nda and really commit to definitely working on that idea.

It's been said before and it will be said again but success is rarely determined by the quality of your ideas. Really programmers don't care about your ideas they're more about execution.

Answer 10

It's a market. Since a really perfect programmer will be worth millions of dollars, just offer to pay him a million a year.

Well, you don't have a million. So, you have to settle for a less than perfect programmer. This is where you have to figure out what you really need, and trade if off for qualities that you don't really need.

For example, the person might not have good company political skills, thus isn't doing well with a typical company. Or, he might have poor social skills, be older and thus a burden on the health care premiums for the company, etc. etec.

He might be a verbal klutz, meaning he comes off poorly in interviews.

You will have to figure out what you really need, what you can offer, and what you can put up with, and find the best deal for your resources.

It's like asking "how do I marry a supermodel genius super people person girl" Unless you're you're young, handsome, rich, brilliant, and charming, the odds are against you. But, do you really need all those qualities for a happy marriage? Probably not.

Answer 11

Start-ups are risky business. if I'm an expert in what you need, I'm going to want a piece of the profits (large piece) and a look at the business plan to make sure it looks as if this thing has a reasonable chance of success and a lot of perks and a top drawer salary (I doubt what you want to do is so interesting that these people will accept a pay cut.)

In all honestly can you offer this?

Answer 12

1. Offer to pay well. If you can't afford it, offer other incentives.
2. Network. You can't hire someone unless you know they exist. As mentioned, a developer conference may be worth attending.
3. Be careful, Facebook was (allegedly) a stolen idea. Make sure you hire someone who is honest, or at least willing to sign the proper legal documents. Get yourself a lawyer if needed.
4. Consider outsourcing outside of the US. It's cheap and you can get a product that's solid. (See odesk.com)
5. Recognize your needs. (Larry brings up some good points.)

(Listed in no particular order and borrowed from other answers.)