Startups don’t fail because of bad code — they fail because they build the wrong thing, too slowly, or with the wrong team.
If I were your first engineer, my mission wouldn’t just be to write clean code. It’d be to ship smart, move fast, and lay the kind of foundation your future hires won’t curse me for.
🔍 I'd Start With the Customer, Not the Code
Before I touch a line of code, I want to know:
Who is this for, and what painful problem are we solving?
I've seen products waste months building features no one asked for. That won’t happen on my watch.
- I’ll ask to read user research, interviews, or founder notes
- If there’s no data, I’ll push to talk to potential users (or lurk where they hang out online)
- I want to know their frustrations, not just what we think they want
Because if we don’t deeply understand the user, we’re just guessing — and I don’t ship guesses.
🛠️ First, I'd Keep the Stack Stupid Simple
This isn’t the time for clever abstractions or six microservices and a Kubernetes cluster. I'd pick a stack I can move fast in — probably a monolith with an API and a UI on top. Something boring, battle-tested, and easy to hire for later.
No tech flexing. Just momentum.
📦 I'd Build for Feedback, Not Perfection
Forget scale. Forget elegance. I’m getting something real in front of users ASAP — even if it’s ugly under the hood.
- V1 doesn’t need to impress other devs. It needs to work.
- Shipping fast is a feature.
- Refactoring comes after we’ve proven someone cares.
🧑🤝🧑 How I'd Work With the Founder
I’m not here to “just execute.” I’m here to translate chaos into code.
- If your idea doesn’t make sense, I’ll tell you (nicely).
- If a feature’s bloated, I’ll push for the lean version.
- If we’re stuck, I’ll offer paths forward — not just problems.
I want daily check-ins. Tiny feedback loops. Shared docs. Voice notes. Whatever it takes to avoid weeks of quiet confusion.
⚙️ My Technical Philosophy (When It’s Just Me)
- Code that’s clearer > code that’s clever
- Functions that can be tested > test coverage that looks good on paper
- Comments over full docs — we’ll get there
- Keep infra minimal until it screams for attention
- Don’t depend on magic — AI can help, but I’ll never let it ship something I don’t understand
🧱 Beyond the Code
I’ve seen how much damage messy foundations cause later. So even while moving fast, I’d:
- Use tools our next devs won’t hate
- Keep the README honest and updated
- Leave breadcrumbs for anyone who joins after me
- Set up CI/CD — no drama deploys
- Avoid custom tooling unless it's absolutely necessary
🧠 Culture Is Built in the First 10 Pull Requests
You might not be thinking about culture yet — but you should be. The tone we set now becomes “the way we do things” later.
That means:
- I leave respectful comments in PRs — even if I’m the only one reviewing
- I write commit messages like someone else will read them
- I ask dumb questions early, so new folks won’t be afraid to later
- I don’t ship 1,000-line commits and say “sorry, had to”
🧳 In Short
You don’t just need someone who can code. You need someone who:
- Knows when to challenge product decisions
- Builds fast without breaking everything
- Cares enough to leave the codebase better than they found it
- Can grow with the company, not just hack things together and bounce
📩 Founders, Let’s Talk
If this sounds like the kind of first engineer you’d want on your team, I’m down to chat. No pitch decks, no fluff — just show me what you’re building and why it matters.
I’m not here to play startup dress-up. I’m here to ship.
Thanks so much for this ser 🙏🏻