How to hire your first engineer as a non-technical founder

Hiring your first engineer without a technical background? How to define the role, find candidates, assess skills you can't judge alone, and make the offer.

By Olufemi Palmer, Managing Partner & Founder

Hiring your first engineer is hard for any founder. When you can't write code yourself, it can feel impossible. You're trying to judge skills you don't have, compete for people who have options, and hand over the thing your company is built on.

It's very doable. The founders who get it right don't pretend to be technical. They get clear on what they need, borrow judgment they don't have, and test for the things they can assess themselves. Here's how I'd approach it.

First, decide what you're actually hiring

"An engineer" isn't a job description. Before you talk to anyone, answer three questions.

What has to be built in the next six to twelve months? Write it in plain language: the product, the integrations customers have asked for, what's broken today. This is the work, and it tells you what kind of person you need.

Do you need a builder or a leader? Early on, you almost always need someone who will write most of the code themselves. A person who wants to manage a team on day one is usually the wrong fit for a company that doesn't have a team yet.

Are you hiring an employee or looking for a technical co-founder? These are different conversations. A co-founder shares ownership of the company's direction and gets a meaningful equity stake. A first engineer joins a direction you've set. Be honest with yourself and with candidates about which one this is.

What to look for in a first engineer

Your first engineer will make decisions that last for years, often without anyone to check their work. That calls for a specific profile:

- Range over depth. They can work across the product, from what users see to the data underneath, even if they're stronger in one area. - They've shipped things people use. Real products with real users, not only coursework or internal tools. - They make sensible tradeoffs. They know when "good enough for now" is the right call and can explain why. - They talk to customers without fear. Early engineers who understand the customer build the right thing faster. - They communicate clearly with non-engineers. You'll be working closely together. If they can't explain a decision to you, that problem won't get smaller.

Borrow the judgment you don't have

This is the most important step. You need at least one experienced engineer you trust to help you assess candidates.

Good places to find that person:

- An advisor or investor with an engineering background - A technical founder you know at another company - A senior engineer in your network who will spend a few hours with you, paid or as a favor

Ask them to help with two things: shaping the technical interview, and joining the final round. Agree in advance on what "good" looks like for this role so they're evaluating against your needs, not their own preferences.

If you truly can't find anyone, a paid technical assessment by an independent senior engineer is far better than going on instinct.

Where to find candidates

At this stage, your network and your story do most of the work.

- Ask for referrals specifically. Not "know any good engineers?" but "Do you know someone who has been an early engineer at a small B2B company and might want to do it again?" - Look one step removed. Engineers who worked with people you trust are the warmest candidates you have. - Go where builders gather. Local meetups, hackathons and university communities are full of people who like building from zero. - Write a job post that sells the problem. Describe the customer, the problem and what's already working. Good engineers want to know they'll be building something that matters.

How to run the process

Keep it short and respectful. Strong candidates won't sit through a six-round process for an unproven company.

1. Intro call (you). Share the story, the customer and the role. Learn what they want next. You're assessing motivation, communication and fit. 2. Technical conversation (your trusted engineer). Walk through something they built: what they decided, what they'd change, what broke. Past work reveals more than puzzles. 3. Paid work sample. A small, realistic task related to your product, scoped to a few hours, and paid. It shows how they think, how they communicate and whether they finish. 4. Working session (you and them). Talk through a real product decision together. Can you work with this person when things are unclear? 5. References. Talk to people who worked alongside them, ideally including someone they reported to.

What you can assess yourself

You may not be able to judge their code, but you can judge a lot:

- Do they ask good questions about customers and the business? - Can they explain technical tradeoffs so you understand them? - Do they push back thoughtfully, or just agree? - Do they follow through on what they say they'll do during the process? - Did the work sample arrive when promised, with a clear explanation?

These signals matter as much as raw technical skill in a first hire.

Red flags

- They want to rebuild everything before learning what customers need. - They can't explain their past work in plain language. - They dismiss your questions because you're not technical. - They push for an unusual tech choice mainly because it interests them. - References are vague or hard to reach.

Making the offer

A first engineer is taking a real risk, so make the offer clear and fair.

- Be transparent. Share where the company stands, your runway and your plans for raising. - Put everything in writing: role, salary, equity, vesting and expectations for the first months. - Explain the equity. Many candidates won't know how to value startup equity. Walk them through what it represents, without promises about outcomes. - Get advice. Equity grants, employment terms and intellectual property assignment all have legal and tax implications. A short conversation with your lawyer before you send the offer is time well spent.

The first ninety days

Set your new engineer up to succeed:

- Introduce them to customers in week one. - Agree together on what "done" looks like for the first project. - Meet weekly to review progress and decisions. - Ask your trusted engineer advisor to check in with them once or twice early on. - Make sure all code, accounts and credentials are owned by the company, not an individual.

The point

You don't need to be technical to hire a great first engineer. You need clarity about the work, a trusted engineer to borrow judgment from, a short process built around real work, and an honest offer. Get those right and you'll hire someone who builds the right product with you, not just the one they find most interesting.

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