

Ask HN- Help: I need a technical advisor - davidl

Do you know the difference between Ruby on Rails, C+ and PHP? I don't!<p>I have an idea for a website project that I would like to get started on. I can fund the project myself and I have a good handle on the concept, marketing, sales, industry contacts etc... However, I have absolutely no technical knowledge. I might be able to name 5 or 10 types of code, but I couldn't tell you the difference between any of them. It turns out that hiring a programmer is hard to do if you can't even describe what you need them to do!<p>I need someone who is a technical generalist to spend a few hours with me on the phone, hear my idea fleshed out, and advise me on what my technical requirements really are, so I can go about developing an RFP.<p>I would be happy to pay a reasonable consulting fee. If there is anyone who is interested and thinks they can help, please email me at dave.leder at gmail.
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imp
I would just like to say thanks for being honest and up front. There are so
many examples of non-technical people being demanding and unappreciative of
programmers, that it's refreshing to see you have an open attitude about this.
It's much more pleasant than hearing requests like "I need a programmer to
build my social networking site for $100!"

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davidl
These are some great points and I left it out of my original message, but that
is always something I have worried about, not knowing the value of advice that
I do get.

Nevertheless, I have a real need for someone who can at least take the
functionality concepts that I describe and tell me if they are technically
possible, describe the level of difficulty, explain any problems etc...

I have built a number of websites using freelancers and in almost every case,
I left some technical description off of my rfp because I did not understand
the way the underlying technology had to be structured in order to get the
desired functionality.

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dryicerx
If you could post out the field or type of application/system you have in mind
at least briefly, you might be able to get a much higher relevant response
rate. Everyone has their own interests and areas their most fluent in...

Is it a content management system? does it involve crunching large quantities
of data? is is mobile application? does it involve building something physical
or making an electronic gadget? etc..

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iamgabeaudick
@davidl: It'd be great if you could comment back - or maybe write a blog post,
or whatever - on what you learned and on how you plan to go forward.

I for one, and I would guess many others, have the non-technical background
but know little about programming.

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lsc
This is actually an interesting problem; If you can't evaluate technical
people, how do you evaluate your technical advisor?

(I have the same problem in reverse; I don't know how to evaluate business
people, so I don't have one.)

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thaumaturgy
I've been thinking about this problem recently -- and it's a hard one --
because we've got a corporate client with a "decision maker" who's got no
technical background, but keeps making technical decisions anyway. He does
this by listening to advice from me and other technical consultants, and then
ignoring that and doing whatever his old buddies at the DoD suggest.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that you can gather together
four different technical generalists, ask them a specific question about your
project, and get four different -- but equally correct -- answers.

For example, a good one might be: "Should I use Ruby on Rails, Python, WSGI,
Java, or PHP for my project?" There's not really much in the way of technical
reason to use any of those methods over the others; it comes down to a matter
of personal preference on the part of the technologist.

Trying to resolve the matter through discussion is probably out, since the
discussion is likely to devolve into arguments over minutiae between the
different approaches.

So, I can't think of any way for a non-technologist to ask for technical
advice from anyone, and get the answers they really want. It's too much a
matter of dabbling in a field where you don't even know enough to know what
you don't know.

You might try this instead: write up an RFP that _doesn't_ spell out the
technologies that should be used. Instead, spell out your requirements, and be
specific in terms that _make sense to you_ :

* The features listed must be N% complete in X days;

* Total development time and cost should be Y and Z;

* The project will be maintained at J rate over K months, meeting L, M, and N requirements...

...Then shop that around. If a technical person thinks they can meet those
requirements using their favorite technology, then let them have at. What does
it really matter to you if they use PHP or Java, so long as it works?

Set up a contract that gives both of you escape clauses early on in the
development project, with minimal losses. e.g., "The developer must complete W
feature by Q date, to project manager's satisfaction, or the project manager
may choose to abort the project and pay the developer $ amount for their time
so far."

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davidl
Thank you for all the replies here and for all of the emails. I have already
corresponded with a few of you and plan to discuss this with several more. I
have learned more today than in several years, about the development process!

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Travis
David,

I just shot you an email (from leleu at industrial interface). I'm willing to
help out.

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cousin_it
Just wrote you an email.

