When should I bring on a technical co-founder for my saas idea?

[NoraG]

I’m trying to figure out the right time to bring on a technical co-founder for my SaaS idea. I can handle the business and sales side, but I’m not a developer, and I’m worried that building an MVP with just freelance help will create a weak foundation for scaling later.

[William_H]

I waited too long to bring in a technical co founder and started with freelancers. The MVP felt fragile and every scaling decision got tangled in integration quirks. Looking back the foundation would probably have held better if someone could own the architecture from day one.

[Justin.T]

We did hire a dev as a contractor and then tried to turn it into a longer term role with equity talk. It helped move pieces but it also slowed us when the roadmap changed since we kept negotiating instead of shipping.

[Elizabeth31]

Is the real problem the tech talent or the product proof point? Sometimes the blocker is not structure but whether the market actually cares. I tried a quick landing page and waitlist to test demand and it gave me a clearer yes no before bringing anyone on board.

[Dennis_R]

It felt right to test with a small advisory CTO but the advice came in bits and then fizzled when momentum dropped. I ended up postponing hires and focusing on removing one risky assumption at a time which is slow.