The $80K Mistake: Why DIY Hiring Isn’t Always the Best Choice

Velcro shoes

I think of myself as a somewhat independent person. I need to do something? I just do it. A problem is not really a problem for me – it's a challenge. I do everything myself. I can even tie my own shoes. And not the velcro ones, I'm talking shoes with laces and stuff – the real deal. So there's that.

Naturally, when I've been visited by the Holy Ghost of Startups (AKA The Idea™), I've promised him I'll do everything I can myself. Well, studying code was not an option, as the world of startups is a time-sensitive world... But one thing I knew for sure – I didn't need no hiring agency.

A recipe for disaster, right? Were it not the case, why would I write this article? Just another loss-porn write up, right? Wrong! Actually, everything turned out great. You would expect a person who knows how to tie their own shoes to lose in life. My app is up and running, I even got some sales. A couple of investment rounds. So, it's safe to say that things turned out fine.

So, what's that I'm trying to convey here?

Excalibur Hotel and Casino

I make decisions, and I make 'em fast. The same day I've fired up the good ol' Google and found several freelance app developers. Nothing complicated about that. Do all the hiring agencies lie to me? It surely seems so. I've also looked through my phone book and pinned a couple of contacts just in case. Several phone calls later I had a developer. Just in time for dinner.

Onboarding? Easy. "This is what we're doing" I said to Jonathan The Developer pointing to a set of scribbles on an A4 that had the "Excalibur Hotel and Casino" logo in the top-left corner. In the world of startups we call it a wireframe, you wouldn't know. "Deadline?" said JTD, concise as always.

– 2 weeks

– 3 months

– 1 month

– 2 months

– ... Deal!

Two months, huh? Is this guy trying to code, like, the next Facebook, or what? What app can take two months to code?

7 months later

Seven months had passed, and my app was still far from completion. The Holy Ghost of Startups was shaking his head in disappointment. It wasn't just a delay, it was a catastrophe. Jonathan The Developer had vanished into thin air after the first month, leaving behind a mess of incomplete code and broken promises. Or broken code and incomplete promises... Anyway. It turned out that his expertise wasn't as impressive as his confidence led me to believe.

Okay, I need someone to clean up the mess left behind by Jonathan. Wait, who am I looking for? So I call JTD once again:

– Hey, JTD, what language did you code our app in?

– Your app. Swift.

– Swift? But that's for iOS only!

– And?

– Wait, are you telling me that the prototype we have is for iOS only?

– You have

Oh for God's sake. So I need someone who codes in Swift and... Android, or whatever the hell this language is called. Enter Maria – our saviour. I've got no problems with Maria The Saviour, she has actually finished what Jonathan The Developer started and developed an Android version that was incredibly true to the source material. In just 3 months.

And I was happy with the result. The app was fast, sleek, and the codebase had "some" documentation. What was left was just the landing... Wait, landing page? Did I forget about the web version of the app?

There we go again. Now with Maria The Saviour by my side, we started to look for an experienced web developer. We're too "in" to back out. Surprisingly, finding a web developer with expertise was somehow more complicated that finding an iOS or Android developer. "Lower barrier to entry", as MTS explained it.

After looking through the resumes for a solid hour, I've noticed a name that follows the name structure of my previous employees: Peter The Web Guy. Is it a sign from above?

Loss-porn, all over again

Apparently, it was. Some time later, we've had a functional iOS app, an Android app and a web application ready. As we marvelled our creation n the launch day, Peter The Web Guy asked me: "Sideræl, why didn't you opt for React Native or Flutter? Or why not just hire a Fullstack developer?".

"What the hell are those? Are they like... bankruptcy attorneys?" I thought to myself while nodding understandingly.

12 months, all in all. Not the worst roadmap, but still far away from what I've hoped for. What's sad is that this little manoeuvre has cost me around $80K.

In retrospective, what I probably needed was an input from someone more experienced than me. Doing everything myself feels great, but losing time and money doesn't. What I'd probably do today is just outsource the hiring process to Match.dev – the guys I work with now. The have a pool of vetted developers, but more importantly they can point you in the right direction if you don't really know what kind of developer your project needs.

But now it doesn't matter. What matters is that several crucial mistakes and $80K later, I can finally say that I'm the founder of the calculator app of your dreams. Multiplication, division – you name it, it's got it all.