Working with great developers
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Transcript of Working with great developers
HI.
HI.
EVERY MISTAKE.
1. Launch Without Code
2. Working with a Dev
3. How the Web Works
THREE SESSIONS
HOW TO
WORK WITH
DEVELOPERS
Innovative development
ChangeUncertaintyOptionsAmbiguitySurprises
Who do you need
How do you find them
How to work together
WHO DO YOU NEED
Business Vision
Product Manager
Developer
Designer
Tester
Communication
Community involvement
Product/business thinker
Technical Advisor
RELATIONSHIP
Contractor
Cofounder
Change
Uncertainty
Options
Ambiguity
Surprises
Contractor
Cofounder
Contractor
• By project or by hour?• Involved management
Cofounder
• Ideal• A marriage• Vesting; symmetry
Contractor
Cofounder
Founding
Employee
FINDING
GOOD
PEOPLE
Tech meetupsStartup weekendsNew roleCoworking spacesLearn to codeContribute
Went to Meetups
Phone callsCustomer listSimple landing pageBlogFollowing, audience Industry eventsResearchLong term community member
You don’t find a good cofounder,
You earn one.Jason Freedman, 42floors
“To find a great technical co-founder, you need to convince
them of the following:
Your idea is better than all of their ideas
...The equity is worth spending all of their spare time working for no money...
...You are worth 50% of the equity of the company
You will execute and convert an idea into a big successful business
...You’re better than all of the other biz people pitching them.”
-Vinicius Vacanti
EVALUATING
DEVELOPERS
TWO WAYS
Reputation
Work with them
Interviewing is broken in tech
"I've fired one out of every three people I've hired. That might make people think I'm bad.... but I think I'm quite good.”
Paul English, CTO of Kayak.com
Short Paid Projects
http://humbledmba.com/everyone-sucks-at-interviewing-everyone
ChemistryCommunicationWhat do they askWhat don’t they askOpennessGut feeling
Persuasive: “I can do that!”Easy to continueEasy to stop
Technical Advisor
COMMUNICATION
• Think small; user stories
• Define milestones
• Own the product
• Be available
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
As a ,
when I ,
I would like to .
• Is this feature absolutely critical to my first sale?
• Succinct overview + super detailed flow
VERSION 1.0
To me there is nothing as frustrating as having to deal with someone, who all of a sudden wants things changed thinking it to be "as easy" as nailing a extra bit of wood onto [a] closet.
Michael Bruggeman
STAY CONSISTENT
EMPATHY
• Development is not wizardry, it’s a craft
• Development is not an obstacle to overcome, it is the path
• Difficulties hard to relate
“....having unrealistic expectations about how
quick and easy it should be.”
George Cheng
MANAGEMENT
Change
Uncertainty
Options
Ambiguity
Surprises
AGILE
“A common mistake I see people make: A founder will ship product specs off to a developer, trusting that everything will be done the way the founder sees it in her head, and only check back in when the final product is ready.”
Nelly Yusupova, TechSpeak
AGILE
• Frequent releases of working product
• Constant communication
• Break large tasks into small tasks
T e x t
Trello
Asana
Flow
Pivotal Tracker
TOOLS
TOOLS
“Above all else, agile is about
people”
ASK STUPID QUESTIONS
"Don't be afraid to say, So what does that mean?
...we found that often we've uncovered, 'Oh, wait; I actually don't want to do it that way, and here's why.'
Katie Finnegan, Hukkster
BEST PRACTICES
Testing
Documentation
Clean codeTechnical Advisor
OUTSOURCING
GO FOR IT
Non-core
Clearly defined + evaluated
Time to manage
Lack of control is fine
NO WAY
Core business
To save money
Innovative/Flexible
Ambiguity
ODESK/ELANCE/ETC VERY IMPORTANT PHRASE
Don’t go for the lowest bid
Hire two at firstDerek Sivers
Thank you to Daniel Szmulewicz (and all the
developers I’ve worked with)
Questions!
1. Launch Without Code
2. Working with a Dev
3. How the Web Works
THREE SESSIONS