I don't think it is. Hire a good software developer that match these criteria: - is not a freelancer - but is willing to do it in their free time - genuine b

I don't think it is. Hire a good software developer that match these criteria: - is not a freelancer - but is willing to do it in their free time - genuine believes your idea is worth pursuing - is interested in learning more about the tech that they will use for the MVP Make this proposal: freelance paid by the hour as trial to become CTO/co-founder. Pay the average market rate (more than the cheapest from Upwork, less than the experienced ones that freelance to big companies). This way you attract someone interested in your success, that will create software of good quality and still will get a good deal even if your startup fails ( some money and learning). I did this and was able to find very good developers. The startup failed on the business side, but it was a fair trade. Ultimametly though I learned to code and I am bootstrapping a web app that I build on my own. I recommend this above all. But I understand it is not for everyone. The problem with professional freelancers is that they can not be interested in your startup's success. You need a developer thinking about the product, not just the code. Or you can get a "tricky genius" kind of dev. That realizes your wishes exactly according to your specifications, but still manage to not create what you want. They just take the shortest path to their payment. I got burned a whole $20,000 once like this.