Ask HN: Trusting contract developers with codebase?

So I’ve been working for several months on a web startup that I’m very excited about - something which I sincerely believe has a great deal of potential.

The idea itself is slightly (if subtly) unusual. More importantly, the implementation strategy is unique as far as I know.

Now it’s not uncommon to overvalue ideas, but the fact is that I do value a number of the ideas involved quite highly. To a large extent, I believe that they’re going to be critical to fighting competitors.

I’d love to be able to hire someone to help speed development, but I’m concerned about opening the codebase to any outsiders at this point.

What is the general consensus when it comes to these kinds of trust issues?

I can definitely continue on as I have been, working by myself - but I feel there’d be an advantage to getting out the door ASAP. And even if I get out the door by myself, the idea has a lot of growth potential - too much for one person to handle adequately.

The matter is complicated by the fact that the chances of finding someone with the right technical knowledge in my country are about nil: so I’d need to trust someone I don’t personally know, and that I’m only indirectly in contact with.

I’ve got trust issues, generally, so maybe I’m overreacting? Still, I can’t help shake the fear that a contract developer is going to (un)-intentionally leak code now or in the future.