Where to look for a programming partner?
- by David
Say that you want to start a new project (I'm talking about a serious project — e.g if you had an idea that seems good and profitable — not about something you start just to learn a new technology or just for your enjoyment) but you don't feel like you can do it alone since, for example, you lack the experience or the technical skills to go through all the phases needed to go from the idea to the final product.
Say also that you don't simply want to hire someone. You want someone who can be as passionate as you in the job, that is “proficient” in and enthusiast of the same technologies as you are and that possibly has a background similar to yours (e.g. you both are students, you both come from a prestigious univerity or just you're both Star Trek nerds).
So, basically you don't want a person to tell what to do (e.g. “implement this and that, slave!”) but someone who can be inspiring and bring something new and important to your project. Someone to go with you from the earliest stage — from clearly shaping the project's philosophy to drawing mockups etc. Someone who agrees to share the outcome of the project, that strongly believes in the idea behind it and is completely 50-50 with you.
Now the question is: how to improve your chances of finding this person (or persons)? Where would you look at first?
For example, if you had a lot of funds and were looking for someone to hire, you'd maybe post an ad in SO careers or jobs.73signals; if you already had a team and were looking for funding, you'd start a project on kickstarter or indiegogo, or you'd go to some startup event.
But if you had to find a good partner (and programmer, of course) for you're project, where would you start looking? Which strategies would you use?
