How We Find the Best Bitcoin Developers in the World

By Dave Hecker on
Remote Development

Bitcoin is growing in popularity and acceptance, so it’s no surprise that Bitcoin developers are suddenly in huge demand. Companies around the country are building and releasing new Bitcoin marketplaces, wallets, etc. and finding a Bitcoin developer with even a year of experience is nearly impossible.

Job sites like Coinality and Reddit are full of opportunities for Bitcoin programmers with far too few candidates to fill all the positions.

In response to this market demand, we’ve partnered with several overseas tech companies that provide excellent Bitcoin developers at great rates.

Here’s how we did it.

First, We Devise a Strategy

With software outsourcing companies popping up all over the world, we like to perform a quick analysis of the marketplace before embarking on a developer hunt.

In this case, our high-level analysis looked like this:

  • Bitcoin is a relatively new technology. Looking for web and app developers with a minimum of x years experience is not a great strategy for us because we need to find substantial teams with multiple developers. So, instead of just looking for companies with a few Bitcoin developers, we’ll be looking for companies who are actively growing and investing in Bitcoin expertise.
  • Bitcoin projects will frequently, but not always, involve encryption, mathematics, security, and other number crunching development tasks. We want to target regions that have strong educational backgrounds with a heavy emphasis on math, quality, and accuracy.
  • Bitcoin projects are typically a bit larger and more formal than the average startup. The reason is that Bitcoins are a financial instrument and even Bitcoin products and services who don’t actually handle the Bitcoins themselves need to be extra secure, accurate, and polished. So, we’ll be skipping freelancers and very small shops and instead targeting medium size, very stable companies with a mature infrastructure that can provide security and operational continuity.

With these high-level parameters in mind, we’re ready to move forward on our hunt.

Deciding Where To Look For Those Great Bitcoin Developers

We know what we’re looking for, but where to find it? In this case, it was fairly easy. We are looking for mature companies that are investing in building a Bitcoin expertise, and who are in a region with strong math/science education and an exacting development style. Generally speaking, that rules out Asia and to some degree, S. America. We decide to start our hunt in E. Europe, with a preference for E. European companies that are closer to (or part of) the EU rather than Russia. This is primarily to accommodate the increased security, legal and IP needs that tend to come with Bitcoin projects.

Ensuring Cultural, Operational & Management Alignment

It would be great to find companies with big teams of experience Bitcoin developers who all have 5 years of experience, but that’s just not going to happen. The right kind of company with the right kind of management, though, can build a great team of Bitcoin developers from scratch over a period of a year or two. Our goal will be to find companies who are doing just that, and build a relationship with them.
10307504544_1e7e10202b_q_bitcoinThe trick here is getting the right timing. We would never steer a client towards a vendor who is just starting out with Bitcoin, but we might consider working with a company that had a few really experienced Bitcoin devs and was very motivated to train others if they had enough projects to keep them going. In a situation like that, we can work with the company to ensure that the more senior, experienced developers are leading the projects while the developers with less Bitcoin experience are still highly skilled and will learn quickly.

If a company says they are working hard to build a competency in a newish technology like Bitcoin, we still need to confirm that they have the structure and skills to do so. Working with new technologies requires that a company has the culture and management needed to attract and retain the type of developers who fit the bill. Also, projects using skills like Bitcoin frequently come with security and other operational requirements, so we’ll confirm that the company is extremely stable in regard to operations, human resources, infrastructure, and leadership.

Final Confirmation & Introduction To Clients

Once we have a few potential partners who meet the above profile nicely, it’s time for the final vetting process. This typically involves an onsite visit with the company, meetings with both developers and management. We’ll also spend some casual time with them to understand their culture and personality. With our client’s needs in mind, we’ll look at the vendor’s capabilities and make a final decision. Regardless of whether they are growing out a new team or they already have a big team of Bitcoiners, we’ll make sure that our clients aren’t disappointed.

Dave Hecker

Co-Founder at SourceSeek at SourceSeek
Dave is a seasoned technology executive focused software delivery, quality, process, and helping clients succeed at international software outsourcing.

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