Pillsbury May 2 Cofounders Hiring and Firing Patricia Ju

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Hiring/Firing Technical Cofounders &

Resources

Patricia Ju for

The Founder InstituteMay 2, 2011



� Its a tech service/product

� Its a service/product that requires new tech to work

� I even know how to monetize it!

� Now I just need to build it.

� How?

±D-I-Y?

± Get help?

I have a great idea!



DIY? Basics of Building a Web Product/Service

�

Define your product/service business requirements-what is it? Whatshould it do? How will end-users and administrators interact with it? Will

it depend on 3rd party services?

� Reserve domain How? Is it taken? How do I tell? How much? Then what?

� Select web site hosting service What? Where?Whos good? How much?

� Setup Merchant Account (Authorize.net) Whats that? How much? Who?

� Decide on OS platform (Windows, Linux) What do I care? Which? Why?

� Install server(s), dev+qa/staging+production Why? Best practices?

� Setup source control (SVN, CVS, Hg) Which? Why? Where?

� Decide on application platforms, programs, modules (CMS, Blog,

Ecommerce/shopping cart, Database system) What do I need? Which?

� Run the project, manage scope, discover/define/develop/deploy/debug,

waterfall vs. agile, build something from nothing successfully



DIY

� Learn a lot

� Talk smarter with techies

� Get it done-faster? Cheaper?

� sleep--

� !(coreCompetency)

� Basing your biz on an amateur



Delegate (get help)

� Base your business on prof essionals

± Experts in Operationshardware servers, networks,

security, monitoring, the cloud

± Experts in Engineeringprog. languages, platforms,

architecture, patterns, reliability, maintainability, speed

± Experts in Software Product & Project Management

� Only way to achieve exponential ROI, where I = your

energy + time + sanity

� Achieve Viral, old-school



Get the Right Help

� Types of Resources

± Duration, roles, skillsets

� Structure of Resources

± Individual, company, US/nearshore/offshore

� Q uality of Resources

� Compensation Structures



Get the Right Help

� Types of Resource

1. Chief Technology Officer, Chief Technologist, Chief

Architect

2. Technical Advisor

3. Tactical Technical Advisor (short-term)

4. Project Manager, Business Analyst

5. UI, UX, Graphic Designers

6. Software Architect/Team Lead7. Developer/Programmer (Senior, Junior)

8. Q A

9. Operations/Infrastructure



Get the Right Help

� Structure of Resources

± Individual Freelancer Consultant-Ninja-Guru-Advisor

± Individual Freelancer with Benefits (partners)

±

Agency, US Interactive Software Consultancy Full-Service Shop

± Offshore/Nearshore Software Consultancy Shop



Get the Right Help

� Q uality of Resources

± #1 Skill of a Delegator (Manager) Recruiting

� whether your project gets completed

� whether it gets completed on time

� number and severity of bugs

� security

� maintainability

� whether resource will act prof essionally after theyre gone

±

Get ref errals from other satisfied customers, work with people who are known to do a great job

± Hire for attitude, Train for skill When does this apply?



Get the Right Help

� Compensation Structures

± Pay hourly rate for a consultant (1099)

± Pay a discounted hourly rate for a consultant

± Pay a flat f ee for a fixed-bid project

± Pay a salary (W2) for a full-time employee

± Pay in equity

±

Pay a retainer (e.g. monthly) for access to an advisor ± Free - Unpaid internship, volunteer, free/pro-bono advice

± Barter goods/services

± Get creative with a mix of the above!



Get the Right Help

� Where to find?

± Build Your Network: Here! Your mentors, your peers, your hired help

(legal, accounting, real-estate), their contacts

± Tech/biz/startup meetings ± Hackathons

± Job boards: crunchboard.com, jobs.37signals.com, craigslist

± Tech mailing lists: NYTech meetup list, NYPHP jobs list, etc.

± Freelancer/project match sites: vWorker.com (formerly

RentACoder.com), Elance

± Prof essional recruiting firms



Get the Right Help

� How to find?

± Focus: Get clear on what kind of resource you need

± Always be communicating what you seek

± Short pitch, enthusiasm

± Inspire with your vision



Keep the Right Help

� How to discipline, or fire?

± Focus: Get clear and communicate with the resource on

how they are not delivering and what you need them to do

to in order to succeed, plus a deadline

± Consider giving them the chance to correct their

work/attitude/behavior (turnover is expensive, but so is a

poor performer)

± Make sure to get documentation and perform knowledge transf er

± Lock out accounts (financial, PCI audits)



Keep the Right Help

� How to retain?

± Focus: Get clear on what you need from your resource

± Always be communicating what you want

± Nurture their productiveness fast, reliable Internet

access; equipment (fast laptops and big monitors!);

software; licenses; food & drink

± Nurture their creativity

± Establish and maintain a culture of accountability

± Inspire with your vision

± Benefits traditional (health, 401K, matching); work from

home, flex hours, PTO/sick/vacation, R&D new technology



Homework

1. Research and compile list of networking events occurring

over the next 2 months where technical resources will be

present

2. Share your vision with 3 technical people this week.

Bonus:

3. Get 2 (contact name, phone/email, and expressed interest)

leads for technical resources

Documents

Pillsbury May 2 Cofounders Hiring and Firing Patricia Ju