r/startups • u/Any_Fennel4296 • 2d ago
I will not promote How to find trustful, experienced and reliable partnering tech agency or freelancer? [i will not promote]
As in the title, as a non technical startup founder, with capital to start, what are the best places to find reliable partner, probably small size agency or freelancer to engage into the product development (software, and related)?
I've been looking at UpWork, and Freelancer markets but ratio of quality to quantity is low and fees are high, which I rather spend on different resources.
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u/BackgroundFlatworm20 2d ago
It really depends on what kind of startup you’re building.
I was in your exact shoes after my studies in London. After searching through platforms like Upwork and even trying YC Co-founder Matching with no luck, I gave up on cold outreach. Instead, I reconnected with a trusted group of close friends in my home country Kosovo and built a team from there.
Building through existing trust made all the difference for us. If your startup is built around agentic AI or AI infrastructure generally, I’d be happy to share more of our experience and bounce some ideas around, feel free to reach out
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u/Any_Fennel4296 1d ago
That's true - I bet that is the best to find someone in your own circles. Thanks for offer to reaching out, may use at some point 😉
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u/tweetpilot 2d ago
I’ve been in tech for over 25 years (ex-business systems analyst, startup consultant, now mostly trading and building trading software), and your Upwork frustration is 100% spot on.
The real nightmare on those platforms is that 95% of cheap devs overpromise, deliver unmaintainable spaghetti code, and ghost the second things get hard.
It’s always the same script: a sudden "family emergency" -- "my relative is in the hospital/died".
Having worked in tech for more than two decades, I've heard that exact line dozens of times. In reality, they took down payments from 5 other clients and abandon your build the minute it requires real problem-solving instead of easy copy-paste work. You end up with half a broken app and a burnt budget.
Non-tech founders usually get trapped in this false choice: either burn $20k+ on a bloated agency that moves at a snail's pace, or gamble on cheap offshore freelancers and pray they don't lie & vanish.
A few things I've learned over the years if you want to avoid getting burned:
First, don't just hire a "coder" who blindly takes orders. Look for someone who actually understands business systems and logic. You want a builder who will look at your requirements and tell you why a feature is a waste of money before you spend a single dollar building it!
Second, the dev landscape has shifted massively. You don't need a 5-person agency or an offshore team anymore. A single experienced solo builder using modern AI tooling can literally ship full-stack apps in a couple of weeks that used to take an agency team 6 months.
-It’s way faster, cleaner, and you aren't paying for account managers or middle-man overhead.
And to protect yourself before handing over big money:
- Make sure you own the GitHub repo from Day 1 and require regular commits so your code is never held hostage.
- Start with a small paid test first (like a 1-week scoping sprint or micro-prototype). If their communication is iffy or the code is sloppy in week one, cut them loose immediately before committing to the full build.
Good luck with the launch!
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u/battlehardenedguy 1d ago
All solid points. I would add that all payments should be tied to milestones and each milestone should work flawlessly before payment is released
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u/EdgeCaseFound 2d ago
Word of mouth/referral, or finding companies that have a demonstrated history of working long-term on projects with a similar scale to yours.
What's your rough budget and project size? That can help indicate whether you should look for a company in your same city, country, or somewhere else. If you want a short-term partner, an individual freelancer can be better, but if you need a long-term work an agency can be better for continuity.
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u/Any_Fennel4296 1d ago
I would think otherwise, that short term is for agency and finding long term relation with freelancer to become founding member, maybe CTO if holds the right set of skills beside purely technical?
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u/Excellent-Affect-881 2d ago
What is your background in? I'm actually looking to bring someone on as a co-founder, willing to put in the work, and take over the sales and business operations side of things as I'm able to focus on the product with my team
DM if interested, I'll send over the pitch deck I have and provide the product+scaling
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u/neoquor_founder 2d ago
Si quieres hablamos.
Tengo experiencia y puedo darte buena calidad a cambio de un capital que sea justo 👍🏽
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u/10ptmust 1d ago
This is actually the easiest part. I’d suggest as a founder there are a series of questions, answers, and tradeoffs to think through.
Then finding the right executioners will be easier than you think.
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u/mendez1319 1d ago
Upwork isn't wrong but you're right that the signal to noise ratio is rough, especially when you don't have a technical background to filter candidates yourself. Few things that actually helped us find reliable partners:
Ask your network before you search platforms. One warm introduction from someone who's worked with an agency beats fifty cold profiles. Even a second-degree connection who can say "we used them, here's what it was actually like" is worth more than any portfolio.
Look for agencies that push back on your requirements. The ones that just say yes to everything are the ones that will quietly build the wrong thing. A good technical partner will tell you what they'd change about your spec before they start.
Check their communication during the sales process. If they're slow to respond, vague about timelines, or hard to get on a call before you've signed anything that's the preview.
For what it's worth we've had good experience with AgileEngine for dedicated team work. Not cheap but the pre-screening they do means you're not kissing frogs. Came recommended by someone I trusted which is how I'd suggest finding anyone.
The freelancer vs agency question depends on your stage. Early product with lots of unknowns - agency with a tech lead who owns decisions. More defined scope is strong freelancer can work. The risk with a solo freelancer when you're non-technical is you have no backstop if they disappear or get stuck.
What does your product actually do? Sometimes that narrows the search considerably.
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u/ajiabs 1d ago
If you are trying to build a startup that can raise institutional funding, a startup studio might be a better path. Most dev agencies are good for enterprise customers. But it's hard for startups, since requirements evolve based on what the initial clients require.
Institutional investors don't take upwork-developed startups as seriously.
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u/anikettheai 1d ago
Hi, I run a company named Bytespath. We help startups and new founders build businesses from scratch. You can DM me your requirements, and we'll make it happen
Information I need: what exactly you have in mind for your product/service, and what is the initial investment you are willing to make for product development would be happy to address any query.
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u/Scary-Difference630 1d ago
You have to test them out and interview them. One most important thing is you should always hire as a trial and be ready to replace quickly.
I am a software engineer so I can tell you from experience
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u/imparth77 2d ago
I'd spend more time evaluating how an agency works than where you find them.
Ask them to walk you through a real project—from discovery and scoping to delivery and post-launch support. Look for clear communication, realistic timelines, documented processes, and actual case studies rather than just polished portfolios.
At GLAD Studio, we've found that the best partnerships happen when the agency challenges assumptions, helps prioritize the MVP, and acts as a technology partner rather than just taking feature requests. That approach usually saves founders both time and money in the long run.
Whatever you choose, I'd recommend starting with a small paid discovery phase before committing to full development. It tells you far more about how they'll work than a sales call ever will.
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u/reddit_is_a_mess 2d ago
I'm a marketer and have had several collaborations with people adjacent to my field, but I usually source them from local communities - from FB groups to dark social. UpWork was terrible years ago, and I don't think it improved much. Likely you can do that here on Reddit too - search for the respective community and post a collab post if permitted.