In search of the 'core developers'

Having been part of two startups, I have realized that employing a core group of developers is critical to it's success. Small businesses often don't have the money to keep long-term employees, however, if the business becomes successful, the core employees suddenly find themselves at the top.

When got my first job, I would think how cool it would be to be a 'lead developer'. My thought was after college I would join some big company and work my way up to that position. Instead I joined a startup company (Rogers Software) in 2001 with a salesman, business man and one other programmer. As I reminiscence here, I'll be focusing on 'us' (the two programmers). The work was extremely hard. Since the company only had three working employees we both had to wear a lot of hats. For a couple years we did everything from development to product shipping to tech support. For much of the time we were performing at least two of those tasks at the simultaneously. I recall spending hours a day programming while at the same time on the phone with customers. We each had a cellphone and would receive customer calls at all hours of the day and night. It was a strain on our sanity and health. Also with me being married it was a strain on the relationship between me and my wife. We worked for Rogers Software like the company was our own. After two years the company began to grow. As new employees were hired we became managers of tech support and development. In the third year we received a raise, became partners and were given a large amount of stock in the company. So while the work was harder than we could have imagined, the rewards were sweet. I left Rogers Software in 2005 to pursue the building of my own company, though I still remain a partner. As we worked through the years I hadn't taken the time to realize how much I had grown as a developer. It wasn't until my fourth year there that I realized we finally 'made it'. We were lead developers, just like the people we idolized in college. Looking back now I'm glad I took the chance on Rogers Software.

So here I am now at the point in my life, where my boss was 4 years ago. I'm looking for that special group of dedicated people who enjoy their work and will take the chance to make something big happen in their lives. While I don't expect everyone to be a workaholic like myself, I am hopeful I'll find those persons here in Salt Lake City.