How to find the right developer for your business model? nexten.io, the IT and tech matching platform provides startups with some answers.
Photo: Founded by Eric Busch, nexten.io is a recruitment platform connecting tech profiles and companies / Credits © nexten.io
nexten.io solution, launched in 2018, is a real community – a place for meetings and discussions between startups in the recruitment phase and software engineers, in order to accelerate the recruitment process for optimal collaboration.
In the coming months, nexten.io aims to expand internationally, particularly in France, Belgium, and Germany. It currently serves 91 companies active in the Grand Duchy.
Eric Busch, the founder of nexten.io, and Anissa Lechaudel, Product Marketing Manager, deliver their good advice and best practices to recruit the right IT talent that will meet the vision, mission, and needs of the company.
On which platforms can I find a developer?
Eric Busch: In the Luxembourg job market, which is still oriented towards more traditional recruitment processes, nexten.io is certainly the right forum to find software engineers that are right for your company.
Our solution puts software professionals in direct contact with companies specialized in innovation and technology. It, therefore, meets a real market need and also the requirements of both parties involved. This mission is both, our entire business and our raison d’être.
Anissa Lechaudel: According to studies, a developer changes jobs every 3-4 years or so, which means they are motivated to find new technical challenges and work on new programs or in new IT environments.
Often, they also look at companies and startups that interest them and choose a dream industry. What we are doing is to help them realize these aspirations.
“The challenge is to “onboard” the first developer and technical referent who will be able to realize the company’s vision.”
What other networks are essential to finding a developer?
EB: There are of course other, more traditional networks such as job boards, LinkedIn, etcetera. But these platforms have increasingly fewer and fewer developers among registered candidates these days. We stand out because we position ourselves as a platform dedicated 100% to only tech jobs.
AL: Our business model is for all startups that don’t have the means to buy job slot packages at €6000-8000 upfront without any guarantee of results; we offer them the possibility to post their ads for free and to have direct access to the profiles most compatible with their needs.
Candidates who register on nexten.io are either actively searching or looking for a better opportunity. The motivations that push them to join our platform are therefore different and more engaging than those that push them to be on LinkedIn, for example.
Should I offer shares to my first developer?
EB: At the very early stage, I would say yes, why not? A developer is a strategic resource who holds some of the knowledge and intellectual property on the technology project.
So you have to offer him shares in the company. At nexten.io, we offer a stock option plan, with part of the capital held by the company.
AL: According to our latest studies, we observe that the proposed project itself is very important for the developer. In addition, younger developers are less attracted to well-known companies, instead, they are more attached to the internal team they will be working with. So my answer would be yes.
“A good developer who wants to be part of a project must also be able to take ownership of the company’s vision.”
Should my first developer be my CTO?
EB: Not necessarily. They may aspire to become the CTO, but you don’t have to name them so right away at the start of the project. That might put them under a lot of pressure. Some have a talent for the position, but not everyone does.
AL: The challenge is to “onboard” the first developer and technical referent who will be able to realize the company’s vision. In fact, in discussions with startups, we notice that many say they need a good CTO, when what they need, above all, is a good developer.
How should one pitch a startup idea to a developer?
EB: Depending on the exchange that will take place with the candidate, the feedback they provide, and through the new ideas that will emerge from the discussion, the founder of the company will be able to deduce whether he has the right candidate in front of him or not.
During this first meeting, the developer must know how to ask relevant questions, listen, understand the company’s expectations and requirements, and propose new ideas. A good developer who wants to be part of a project must also be able to take ownership of the company’s vision.
But for technical recruitments, a startup founder should not pitch the idea to a developer, as he would do to an investor. They are different situations, and candidates will not be attentive to the same details as investors.
AL: It would be preferable to assume an equal position between the CEO and the candidate in order to be able to present their vision in an authentic way. And so, rather than saying “We should do this or that,” the founder should rather listen and actively engage in the exchange, in order to attract the best developers, especially those who will come up with the best ideas for the project. So communication is very important.
What developers are looking for usually is working in an autonomous and agile mode, with flexible hours being important. They pay more attention to other forms of benefits (parking spaces, petrol vouchers, restaurant reservations, tickets, stock options, etcetera) than to the salary itself, which often comes in as the third most important motivation for the candidates, behind work-life balance and project/technical challenges.
As far as salaries are concerned, everything obviously depends on the expertise and experience of the candidates. Our latest study speaks to this in detail. Our next report, to be published in a month’s time, will provide more up-to-date figures on the subject.
