How to hire developers for a start-up

Working in a startup is fast paced, challenging, exciting and at times frustrating. Every day, and every decision that is made, has the ability to potentially be incredible or detrimental to the business as a whole - and it could mean success or failure.

Especially when it comes to a pre-series A company, time spent hiring could be very well spent, or not, depending on the outcome. At an early stage startup, a company’s culture and expectations are just being set and are important to embed. It’s important to hire people who meet the same energy and ethos as the founders or core team that exists. One poor hire can have a huge impact on a small team.

Not only is it important to hire a great cultural fit, but if you need to source specialisms like a developer, you’ve got to hire on this merit too.

There are a lot of benefits of working in startups and lots of developers are drawn to them. We spoke to Chris, a full stack developer at StormX, a crypto-finance startup, who said: 

“The way I think about startups is that you should never stop learning and you should never settle. There are no situations that cannot be overcome with the right mindset and enough time. The startup space also brings a lot of smart and innovative people.”

So, how do you hire developers for a startup?

The first option is the easiest, which is to hire an external recruiter to do it. Where sourcing of the candidate is out of your hands. There are, however, a couple of issues with taking this approach:

1. It’s expensive. The average hiring cost for a developer through a recruiter is 10-15% of their salary, cash is the lifeblood of an early stage startup.
2. Recruiters don’t know your business inside and out, they source candidates based purely on talent. An individual you might take a chance on, based on their personal brand or background but isn’t qualified, might get missed as the recruiter will stick to the brief.

As a founder, if you have no technical knowledge or experience, it’s probably best to outsource your hiring - it’d be difficult enough to know what you were looking for let alone conducting technical interviews. 

Developer focused job boards

Senior and experienced developers won’t waste time looking for jobs on platforms like Indeed, they are too generic. These individuals get approached endlessly on platforms like LinkedIn (if they’re on there). Their notifications might look something like this...

So you need to cut through the noise. 

It’s important to remember that the majority of developers are in full time employment, but they are also open to new opportunities. So how do you peak their interest at the perfect time?

Introducing Haystack

A tech insights and opportunities marketplace built by a team that knows techies are the ones with the power, not employers. Users only see relevant opportunities and they get matched with roles based on their preferences. From tech stack and seniority to location and company benefits.

Getting access to Haystack means you can access a pool of untapped tech talent, with over 35% of our users not on Linkedin. They are a combination of curious and passive users, who are browsing the tech landscape for their next opportunity.

Hiring a developer for a startup can be expensive, but with Haystack, you can get access to the platform for just £500 - and we won’t charge you fees on hiring.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Find out more today.