Advice for Building a Small Team

Hi Everyone,

I want to build a team for a new startup and could REALLY use some advice on hiring. My largest problem is that I am not a real programmer/developer. Don’t get me wrong, like many self-proclaimed internet “developers” I can install WordPress Plugins and I can duct-tape and superglue HTML, CSS, PHP off-the-shelf solutions to do my bidding most of the time (with enough Googling)… but as we can all agree, my kung-fu is weak.

Anyways, I have an idea that I spent a couple years on that requires truly custom development. I already have lots of cocktail napkin functionality wire-framed on Axure. Several years ago I even outsourced to a small firm. However, since I had other businesses to manage (and am not really a developer who can properly gauge their progress) the entire project fell apart.

What do you guys think would be the best path for my first hire? Should I be starting from top-down with a CTO or should I concentrate on hiring a single software developer and expand from there? Or should I be looking for some type of technical “advisor”?

Are people coming right out of school too green to be early hires (I live close to a very prestigious CS school)?

This is for a web app in the EdTech space that utilizes crowdsourcing and machine learning. I do have experience in the EdTech industry (and have successfully exited my other companies). I can easily do a couple years runway with a few employees. But, I obviously don’t want to flush money down the toilet for staff that is unwarranted.

TLDR: What order should I hire people & what would best attract them ($$, stock options, “excitement” of a new startup, etc.).

Thanks!!

A couple side-notes:

I am semi-retired and am currently trying to learn Python.

I though about outsourcing the MVP again, but I read on this sub that it would be a bad idea.