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Ask HN: How to outsource?

15 points by kluikens ↗ HN
A co-worker had been working off 'n on, on a project that virtually has same foundations as WePay. I showed him their site last night and he wasn't too happy, understandably. It served as a real reminder that some of my ideas might never be realized, just for the fact that I can't work on them full-time.

So, as a full-time student who's working flex hours -- are there good, responsible ways to outsource some of my projects in order to get them to a functional status? The ability to program isn't the issue, time is.

I'm not necessarily looking for people to write code for cents on the dollar (my assumption is that I'll still have to look over all the code looking for mistakes), but are there good alternatives?

Additionally, I would love to hear any members' experiences.

13 comments

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dejv
Derek Sivers wrote good article on this topic few days ago: http://sivers.org/how2hire
duck
And check these out too: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1445500 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1455670
CyberFonic
The key is that you will still need to write specifications if you want anything good. And that takes time and effort too. People in general are lousy at reading your mind.

In my experience, writing a 'good' specification is as much, if not more, work as writing the code. If you write it at too high a level of abstraction, the programmers will probably not implement what you really wanted.

imasr
I strongly disagree. Find a good programmer that will do a good job out of love and money, and will help you with more than just being a code-writing monkey.
kluikens
Hi imasr, it's not that I don't want to hire someone who's talented, smart and motivated to help me with my project(s). It's just.. I'm a student. I can't hire a programmer on a full-time basis for obvious reasons.

My situation is that I hope to save money as often as I can and from time to time maybe outsource a part of my project every so often when it's more beneficial to review and integrate outsourced code than it is to write it myself.

It's not like I'm going to put out a request for something like "build me an invoicing system." I think it's agreeable that it's too much for one inexperienced developer to try to build large, complex and robust systems. And, I don't want to be one of those guys who pays you in equity or IOUs. This is the closest I can get to what you're telling me to do.

imasr
That's perfectly fine. It happened to me before of someone offering a job that wasn't for me but for a more Jr. developer and I ended-up passing it on to someone I knew and trusted. I'm from Argentina, and down here you have the leverage of currency being 1 to 4. Is not that you'll be paying cents an hour, but you'll be paying less and will pay someone above his/her local rate. Win-win.
kluikens
You're right; I had never thought about that. If I can afford it personally, I'd much prefer to contract out jobs this way. (Why I'm asking! :)

Any tips on finding developers for freelance/contract work in Argentina? I'm sure I could find a few outlets, but a native might be aware of some things that'd take me a while to catch on to.

imasr
Drop me a line at rafael_imas@yahoo.com.
kluikens
Thanks! I always enjoy reading Derek's pieces.
rubinelli
Parcel out those parts of your project that you know someone with experience can bang out in less than 4 hours, but would take you a few days reading docs and advancing by trial and error. Payment integration and similar APIs come to mind. Prepackaged components can have an even better bang/buck ratio.

Another obvious area is web design. Between 99designs and PSD slicers, you can have a great homepage for $500 (or a decent one for a bit less.)

kluikens
I've never touched payment integration before, so that'll reaffirm your assertion. I guess I'll have to review that code carefully. I'm a bit apprehensive about contracting out that part, but if I find someone who does a good job -- it's very possible that they'll have the necessary experience to avoid financial mistakes that I'd run into. Great idea.

And, I was going to consider contracting out the design but was a bit apprehensive about what I'd get back, but 99designs looks great! Thanks!

billclerico
hey - this is Bill from wepay. If your friend would be interested in joining us give me a shout. bill at wepay dot com
kluikens
Sure thing, I'll let him know.