Ask HN: Solo Senior Developers, Where do we find you?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47446524

by smalltorch • 4 months ago

17 31 4 months ago

news.ycombinator.com

I need someone to partner with me to launch my application. I am a construction professional and have created a application that is in a untapped field. It is an amazing tool, completely offline, no cloud, no accounts, no subacription. No one wants that crap! All the mobile apps built for us construction professionals are terrible I have tried them all.

I've approached numerous mobile app developers and all of have no avenue for consulting or partnering to launch an application. They all charge insane fees before a build even takes place.

Where do we find you!

bigyabai• 4 months ago

India or Pakistan. No technical lead wants to work for $10/hr with an "ideas guy" that has their head in the cloud. Pay the market price, or see what happens.

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

I would pay a lot to launch what I have. Who has captured this market?

I don't really need a technical lead...they would have no understanding of what I made or why it would be useful.

I've tested it in the field and I know it works for exactly what I want it to do.

Imustaskforhelp• 4 months ago

How much/ What exactly are you willing to pay?

And what exactly do you want from the person, do you want them to build their app?

scorpioxy3• 4 months ago

So what do you need then? Your posts are a bit confusing. You asked for solo senior developers but then you say you need help with pricing and trademarks and also say you don't need a technical lead.

I would suggest you organize your thoughts and write down the list of what you think you need and then either pay for a consult with a senior developer or chat with a trusted technical person.

From your posts, it sounds like you need more than one role and/or the services of an agency. If money is the issue and you think you have a good idea, then I suggest you seek funding.

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

More context. What I have built goes for 1600 lifetime access on a desktop. I have successfully built an application for Android that does everything the field guys want.

It turns out...that's may be the easiest part. Google has successfully gatekept that last 10 percent of launching.

rbanffy2• 4 months ago

What’s exactly the issue? What’s left to do?

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

I have a working apk. I do not know what needs to be done to get testers, trademark a name, advice on pricing, advertising. All the things you want for a good launch to market.

thrtythreeforty• 4 months ago

Pay your $25, upload an APK, and it's launched. What's left?

georgemcbay2• 4 months ago

There's a bit more steps than that for someone who hasn't yet launched a Play Store app. When I launched a hobby app I had to find and maintain 20 unique testers (they have since reduced it to 12, I think? it was 20 back in 2024) willing to test the app for 2 weeks before Google let me list it on the Play Store.

Though even this wasn't that hard... I easily found more volunteer testers than I needed on a relevant subreddit (the app is a PvP stat tracking app for a videogame, and I found plenty of people willing to sign up to test my app on a subreddit dedicated to that videogame).

That said, because of the unique testers requirement it was a much bigger pain in the ass to get listed on the Play Store than the Apple App Store (my app is written with kotlin multiplatform and supports Android/iOS/Windows/WASM).

orionblastar• 4 months ago

Read this: https://www.pellsoftware.com/the-best-places-to-find-the-rig... It should be enlightening.

moralestapia2• 4 months ago

I was trying to find a blog post that beautifully explains it but cannot at the moment.

In one sentence, no one (with skill) will work for you for free.

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

I am willing to pay a totally fair price...still where are these people?

moralestapia2• 4 months ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47219667

JonChesterfield• 4 months ago

"Fair" or "insane" ideas on price vary a lot between people. See also "competitive" salary on job posts.

You might think $10 an hour is fair. Or you might think $1000 an hour is fair. If the developers you're trying to contact can't guess where you are on pricing, they'll probably ignore you.

arealaccount• 4 months ago

I have to say I'm weirdly curious, but you don't even have an email on your profile?

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

Added.

burntoutgray• 4 months ago

How about you put your contact details into your profile, so that an interested developer can make contact, etc?

I've worked on construction software systems. Wouldn't mind an off-line chat.

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

Added to my profile please reach out.

arionhardison2• 4 months ago

If its an interesting problem, i'll do it free. a@project20x.com

arionhardison2• 4 months ago

If its an interesting problem, i'll do it free. a@project20x.com

One issue I see in your messaging is that construction people usually do not speak like "completely offline, no cloud, no accounts, no subscription". When doing work for SME's one of the things I enjoy most is learning systems, tool chains, nomenclature etc... The above reads like a dev harvesting for leads.

smalltorch11• 4 months ago

Ok I will send over a demo soon.

I think people will understand it easily. It's like buying a really nice tool (which I do often). I will spend 300-400 dollars on tools I can have forever. It's easily justified if it makes my job easier.

A completely offline, no subscription lifetime app is an easy sell and exactly what people like me want.

Ask HN: Solo Senior Developers, Where do we find you?

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