Let me preface this by saying I've had similar problems in other parts of the country when hiring developers. Below is just a loose collection of thoughts/ideas

Let me preface this by saying I've had similar problems in other parts of the country when hiring developers. Below is just a loose collection of thoughts/ideas on the topic. Your job post is probably only halfway there in attracting totally awesome people. You dont make the job sound AWESOME. 1 - There are no specifics mentioned regarding compensation. Although this is the standard elsewhere in the world, and for non-hacking jobs, we had much more success just being completely upfront with people about what we were offering and why, including stock/healthcare/benefits. Hackers are generally pretty no-nonsense people when it comes to $$, and in your area (like ours) your best chance of getting someone is stealing them from another software job. Generally people don't list exact salary because either (A) they dont want to tell so that they can feel you out (what was your salary at your last job bullshit) or (B) its actually under market pay. If you are SURE you are over market average, say so with actual numbers. If you aren't, then don't expect to find someone quickly. 2 - The remote worker is a good idea if your team can handle it and your requirements don't change rapidly. Regardless, to everyone saying 'remote is the way to go' this is very hard to find and hard to make work for most teams. It shouldn't be, but it is. 3 - Pictures actually do a lot of good in attracting good talent. Is your office neat? or boring. Are the desks awesome? or crappy. Are the monitors big? Chairs Comfortable? People Friendly looking? Pictures answer all of these questions, hopefully to your benefit! 4 - You might start by trying to find someone who wants to do part-time or contract work, but who is local. They may already have a job, but want some extra cash. You wont get to place the same time or job constraints on them, but you may get better work. And if you really like them, you'll be in a better place after 2-3 months to really make them an offer they cant resist. 5 - Startups are tricky in other parts of the country than CA and MA. If someone quits their job to work for you, they may have to find another in 6 months. This means you wont get many people to move to your job from a national job circuit. In addition, it also makes it hard to steal someone from a bigger/existing software job. This is something you will either have to overcome by showing them how well funded you are (VC?), or that you are already making $$ (are you?). Anyways, hope this helps, good luck. At one point we waited 9 months to find the right developer, and it really paid off, but the waiting sucks balls.