When to Partner With a Developer
The App Idea Guy - A Cautionary Tale
I recently got an intro by someone who had an App but needed another developer.
He’d spent $7,000 getting a developer to build it. Now he had a buggy app with zero users.
I’ve seen this pattern many times. I’ve stepped into this trap myself. The entrepreneur gets excited about an idea, immediately hires a developer, and then… watches the money go down the drain.
What I had to learn as an entrepreneur:
Conviction is not the same as excitement
My friend who runs several successful SaaS products told me something that stuck: “If you don’t have proof, you should be scared.”
And he’s right. If you’re not scared when you have no validation, you’re delusional. (Most entrepreneurs are delusional. We need to be. Otherwise, we wouldn’t work into the void for weeks and months.)
Conviction Comes From Data
If you’re thinking about hiring a developer, you need conviction. And conviction doesn’t come from your gut feeling - it comes from data.
What kind of data? Here’s what real validation looks like:
Documented conversations with 10+ potential customers - Real people in the target group. Who confirm that they have this problem and want to spend money solving it.
A landing page with actual signups - Drive traffic to a page explaining your solution. If nobody enters their email, move on. The one who do: try to presale them (best validation, ask Noah Kagan).
You’re already implementing the solution manually for clients - The software is just an augmentation of what you’re doing already. This is my favorite approach because it means you’re solving a real problem that people are willing to pay for.
You see a clear, documented trend - The market is moving in a direction that makes your solution more valuable over time.
Follow The Right Order (or Die)
Elon Musk has this framework for optimization that I love:
- Make requirements less dumb 👈
- Delete unnecessary requirements
- Simplify
- Make it faster
- Automate
Most entrepreneurs start at #5. Let’s automate something! But automate what, exactly? Something nobody wants?
Doom starts when you:
- Automate something that shouldn’t exist
- Make it faster even though nobody is using it
- Simplify even if you haven’t understood the problem yet
- Delete requirements delete the whole thing
- Make them less dumb forced to start again
I wrote a whole post about dumb specifications that digs deeper into this problem.
The Resources Reality Check
Even if you have validation, you need to be realistic about what it takes to build a SaaS business.
Nathan Barry has this concept of “ladders of wealth creation” that’s worth understanding. SaaS is at the top of that ladder - it’s the hardest, but potentially most rewarding.
And let’s talk about what Gail Goodman called “The long, slow, SaaS ramp of death.” This concept changed how I approach SaaS businesses.
The reality is:
- Slow initial growth - No hockey stick charts here
- Extended timeframe - Years, not months, to reach significant revenue
- Cash flow challenges - You’ll burn cash before you make it
- Psychological impact - It’s a mental marathon
- No silver bullets - No single marketing channel will save you
So before you hire a developer, ask yourself: Do I have the resources (money, time, mental energy) to climb this mountain?
When You’re Actually Ready
When you have both validation AND resources, then it’s time to partner with a developer.
Do you have:
- Documented validation from potential customers?
- A clear understanding of the problem and solution?
- Enough runway to survive the “ramp of death”?
- The persistence to keep going when things get tough?
If so, congratulations! You’re ready to hire a developer or find a technical co-founder.
In my next post, I’ll cover HOW to find the right technical partner. Because that’s a whole other challenge.
But for now, focus on validation. Talk to customers. Test your assumptions. Because the most expensive line of code is the one that solves a problem nobody has.
What stage are you at with your software idea? Have you validated it yet? Let me know in the comments.
