At a recent Trajectify Bootstrappers Breakfast, one of the entrepreneurs in attendance mentioned his interest in finding a technical cofounder. In fact, he had someone in mind — a developer that he’d been contracting with for several months.

Many of the entrepreneur’s peers at the breakfast began trying to talk him out of it, and I didn’t disagree with them.

I rarely see a founder identify a developer who’s equally committed to the founder’s idea and wants to share equally in the risk. And if they don’t meet those criteria, they’re not really a cofounder — they’re an employee (and a pretty expensive one).

So let’s talk about how founders often end up in a technical cofounder search, the problems with that approach, and what you can do instead.

Why you might want a technical cofounder

That entrepreneur wanted a technical cofounder for a number of reasons.

He was lonely. He felt overwhelmed when having to deal with or talk about tech issues. He was afraid of losing the developer in this tight talent market.

All very real concerns.

Some founders reach a point where they need to move beyond their MVP and provide greater value to their customers. Unfortunately, they don’t have the funds to pay a developer, so they start looking for a technical cofounder as a way to get what they need and delay the costs.

I’ve never seen it work.

See: Being a Solo Founder: How to Combat the Loneliness of Entrepreneurship

Why you shouldn’t look for a technical cofounder

Let’s say I’m a non-technical founder. I’ve taken a lot of risks. Maybe I’ve taken some money from friends and family. Or I’ve used my savings, mortgaged my house. I probably left my job. I’m all in.

I’m doing all this because I really care about what I’m trying to accomplish.

Then I hire a tech person — we’ll say a developer — who works for me as an independent contractor. They’re helping me develop and refine my MVP. This is their side hustle. They might also be working for a big company.

I like their work, and I ask them to join me as a cofounder.

Here’s the first problem: If I’m looking for a technical cofounder because I don’t have those technical skills, how do I know I’m getting someone good?

One option to address that concern is to get an independent review of the quality of their work. Yes, what they’ve built looks good on the outside, but what’s it like under the covers?

Someone who does want to be a co-founder one day won’t be offended by an independent review. They’ll be proud of the work they do. They may let you know about a couple corners they cut because you didn’t pay them enough or you wanted to get to market quickly.

If they’re uncomfortable with an independent review, that tells you something important about their values.

Of course, that’s only one issue. Are they willing to take on the risk you have?

Chances are, when you ask them to join, they’ll tell you they don’t want to walk away from the more than $200K they’re earning at their “day” job.

That’s your number one clear indication that they’re not aligned with your mission. They’re not willing to take the same financial risk that you have. You’ve evaluated the opportunity cost and made the decision to walk away from the solid salary. Will they?

I’ve seen this evolve into situations where a potential technical cofounder wants to keep their day job or get paid that $200K by you. Or maybe they’re willing to do it for $125K, but they want extra equity. At that point, what’s happening is that you’re negotiating with an employee — not a cofounder.

See: How Bootstrap Startups Get It Right

What to do instead of seeking a technical cofounder

The founders that end up being the most successful are the ones who start the business together as passionate co-founders from the beginning. Or those who can be a one-person show — all-in-one, developer/practitioner founder.

One of Trajectify’s clients is a great example: he understood the business and the market, and he could build his own software. He worked on his own for a few years before he hired his first employees.

What if you don’t have that technical know-how?

You have two — possibly three — choices.

Most founders are going to have to hire someone. You get a freelancer, you send the project offshore. If you’re just validating your idea, you may not care much about the quality of the code.

If you’re lucky enough to know a hobbyist that might be willing to help out in their spare time, you can always use that option. They may do it out of the goodness of their heart, for a small fee, or for a little equity.

Hopefully once you do need more capital to pay a higher quality or full-time developer, you’ve shown enough engagement to get funding or you have enough revenue to pay them.

Some founders may be able to teach themselves what they need to know, at least in the early stages. I caution entrepreneurs about this route because it’s not an option for most people — either because the technology is too complicated or because the founder themselves just isn’t suited to becoming a software developer.

Yes, there are drag-and-drop visual software development tools out there. Even so, concepts come up that you may not be prepared for. You still have to understand how the pieces fit together.

The best option, if you can swing it, is to get scrappy and creative.

One of my good friends from college built a service to help people with diabetes and other chronic conditions adhere to their protocols.

In the beginning, he wanted to create a phone bank of certified diabetes educators (CDEs).

He thought he needed to build telephony software and an interface to send calls and a CRM system behind the scenes.

I was running a telecom company at the time, and I told him what I could build for him, which wouldn’t be inexpensive. He said, “Okay, I'm going to find a cheap and easy way to do it.” He didn’t build anything. He used Grasshopper, a cloud-based phone system, and just sent calls based on certain extensions at certain schedules to certain CDEs. They would receive a call on their cell phone through the Grasshopper system.

He tested his model and ultimately sold subscriptions to pharmaceutical and insurance companies. He found an inexpensive way to deploy the product and test his value proposition. No code building required.

He didn’t raise enough to hire a tech team and build out his own custom internal infrastructure until years later.

Investors love to see entrepreneurs think that way — scrappy and innovative. They’re more likely to trust you with their money. And if you’re bootstrapping, your bank account loves to see it, too!

See: When to Hire Your First Employee (and the One After That)

Final thoughts

Founders need to be creative about what they’re validating, what exactly they need (or don’t need) to build, and how to get engagement without a technical cofounder.

I see a lot of businesses that should’ve spent more time in that scrappy innovative mode instead of going right into product development. I can’t tell you how many tech products have failed or are left sitting on the shelf.

When startups get creative with their validation, they learn their customers. When it’s time to build, they know what to build — instead of just thinking they know what to build.

At that point, they probably have enough funding to build it because investors have seen that engagement. Or they’ve built their revenue. Then they can hire a technical lead — an employee, and not need a technical cofounder.

Check out one of our monthly Bootstrappers Breakfasts where we have serious conversations about growing businesses from internal cash flow and organic profits.