How do I startup if I'm not a developer?
SwellJoe: If you aren't a coder yourself, hiring a coder can be incredibly challenging.  Recognizing a good hacker vs. a bad one on a site like rent-a-coder or elance when you aren't a good hacker yourself is pretty much entirely random.  In fact, it might be worse than random, because the worst developers on sites like might be the best at fooling non-hackers.  I've done (non-core competency) development jobs through both, and I've gotten pretty good at sussing out who's going to waste my time by delivering code I'll have to throw away, and I've been a programmer since I was a kid, but I still make mistakes sometimes.I've noticed a trend that leads me to believe that non-hackers would end up choosing the wrong developer in more cases than random chance would dictate:The best hackers have a tendency to be honest, even if it means they're less likely to get the job.  They will point out their limitations, explain what they don't yet know about the problem domain, and talk about the interesting (to them) aspects of the problem domain (which are probably the least interesting to a non-programmer).  Now, great hackers aren't the only people who are honest, of course...which further complicates things.  Folks who just don't have the skills may be setting their sites a bit too high, and will fail without intending to do any wrong.  So mere honesty doesn't do the selection for you.  It just makes it easier for someone who understands what needs to be done to choose the person to do the job.The worst hackers don't care, because they know they're going to deliver shoddy work no matter what they say.  The worst providers on these sites offer the world, and will claim tons and tons of relevant experience.  They will rip off existing products or websites and slap a new coat of paint on it and call it a "prototype" that they made just for your bid.  They will produce copious requirements and bid documents to snow you into thinking that because they can produce so much specific documentation about the job to be done it means they actually understand the problems.So, while I've had occasionally good luck with outsourcing work via a site like that, I would not recommend it for someone that doesn't have some experience interviewing developers and then working with the developers after they've been hired, especially if you don't have a lot of development experience yourself.