Hiring developers blindly dooms startups — here’s how to avoid that fate

To those outside the technology scene, programmers speak jargon-filled alien languages. Understanding their technobabble is a challenge for me as well, despite having cut my teeth in the tech startup world for about a year now.

At the StartupRootsSG Panel held at Hackerspace Singapore yesterday, an interesting discussion raged about the granular differences between PHP, Ruby, and Python. The three wise men representing each domain were Michael Cheng, Sau Sheong, and Calvin Cheng respectively.

Vociferous laughter, inside jokes, and light jabbing filled the already cramped room, but for poor sobs like me who think Python is a slithery animal, the event felt like an intergalactic confab for the United Federation of Planets.

So now you understand the predicament facing non-technical startup founders who want to hire a developer into the team. How do you evaluate someone who speaks in an entirely different (programming) language? Read more

Payroll Hero seeks to make Human Resources fun — finally

Punching clocks and employee timesheets — two common but outdated HR systems that are still practiced in businesses.

Payroll Hero, a user-friendly payroll management software for businesses and the winner of the Judges’ Choice Award at Echelon Philippines Satellite, aims to change things around.

Companies sometimes find employees tinkering their reports on the number of work hours they’ve clocked. These bad practices result in ghost employees, time stealers, time wasters, and buddy punchers. Read more

When finding a technical co-founder for your mobile-web startup is a horrible idea

Here’s a typical problem. Your background is in business and you want to do an Internet company because the cost of starting up is extremely low and you think that you have a great idea.

The unique challenge of finding good technology people is endemic not only in Asia. It happens everywhere, including Silicon Valley. While Google, Facebook and many notable technology companies are putting in top dollar for the best engineering talent, most founders in start-ups don’t have that kind of resources.

The challenge of finding the best technology talent is exacerbated in Asia, since these people are viewed as a support arm and is something that can be outsourced to programmers in India or China.

Here are some considerations as to why you should or should not find a technology co-founder.

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