How do you convince people to work for you as a non-exciting startup?

Sell the developer on the chance to use the latest technology.

Sell the developer on the chance for career growth as the company grows.

Sell the developer on the fast paced environment without all the meetings and bureaucracy of larger companies.

Sell the developer on the chance to work broadly across many projects and not be stuck doing the same specialism all the time.

Sell the developer on being a big fish in a small pond and not just another numbered resource.

Your selling the culture and environment.

Even if it’s a mundane problem, if your product solves a valuable need for an underserved market you shouldn’t have problems making a market rate hire. There are plenty of people who would be happy to work on a good opportunity while enjoying the freedoms of a small company. Substance is more attractive than marketable hype any day.

Just pay more. Developers care a lot less than you think about what it is they're building. I mean sure, we'd all like to build something cool. But not if it means leaving money on the table.

If you can’t sell the vision to a prospective employee you’ll fail to sell to clients. Not being a dick to you, just I have seen this before. Doesn’t make you bad just a good gut/reality check to help you adjust as needed.

The pitch is very similar between the two. You are selling the employee on the same base values you sell a client on.

Show why the client wins and how your solution will address the pain. Highlight the challenges because even in mundane problems there are always challenges. Engineers sometimes fail to see the challenges of why a problem would be fun to tackle so that is the one area you have to help highlight.

I do agree that the less interesting and challenging the problem then you do have to compensate in other ways to attract talent. But also be honest you don’t always need high end engineers to solve simple problems. So hire what you need and don’t fall victim to hiring the wrong type of person for the type of work you need done.

Let everyone architect but only after they've completed some challenging but reasonable tasks. For example:

- passes multiple choice test about how current code works

- has a professional knowledge of the language they are using (part 2 of the test)

- has read and done a book report on 2-3 design-pattern/architecture books.

Once you do all that you go in the queue. New developers have precedence over seasoned developers. When a new project comes up the developer who gets that greenfield is the first developer in that queue who hasn't had a chance to architect yet.

The main idea is that good developers don't want to be assembly line workers and yet a total lack of autonomy seems to be the norm for (I think) most software developers. So the ability to make technical decisions is a real benefit IMO.

Some other things that might be advantages:

- you now have a team of experts. Good job.

- you can avoid senior devs possessing all of the knowledge of the companies software (because only that select few got to design anything) and then not having an incentive to improve.

- Creating a genuine interest in new code (because you want to see how the new guy did it).

"Everyone is an architect" should be your tag line.

You've no doubt heard the story of the two brick layers.* One sees himself as "building a wall." The other sees himself as "building a cathedral."

You should hash it out with someone and figure out how to explain why it matters. No one thinks Burger King is "solving world hunger" but the reality is that ubiquitous cheap eateries are, in fact, part of why there is no widespread, devastating starvation in the US.

I really like a couple of scenes from The Devil Wears Prada" when Andy is given a big picture overview of why both fashion generally and this fashion magazine in particular matter.

https://vimeo.com/354919615

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj8mHwvFxMc

You need to work on your visioning statement or elevator speech or similar. If you are providing a service and doing it well, it's possible to get excited about it. You may need a little help with figuring out how to communicate it, but it can be done.

If it's also "boring" insofar as being reliable, steady and well-paid work, there are lots of people who will see that as a huge draw. Not everyone ascribes to the philosophy that "It's better to burn out than to fade away." Some people like a lack of drama in their lives.

First reference I could readily find (and slightly different from the version I remember): https://betterlifecoachingblog.com/2012/03/30/the-two-brickl...

Besides what others people have mentioned - flexibility, growth, and learning. Do people have autonomy? Is there sane work life balance? Good engineering practices (including good code review and reasonable prioritizing of technical debt)? Good overall company dynamic and practices (sane, including clients not overly dictating internal company operations, internal teams working well together, collaborative / non-competitive people who are trying to accomplish some shared goals)? Stability (high-value customers, lots of them, and/or lots of money raised)? Little politics? Unique technical issues (huge scale, real time, etc)? Are people heard / is their feedback taken into account?

Those who claim that their product is the greatest thing since sliced bread (which ironically itself wasn't the "greatest thing since sliced bread" at first) sometimes might be delusional or even just lying.

I'd take an honest product that provably helps people over a mere pipe dream any day. That's not to say that a visionary product doesn't have appeal or can't be truly world-changing but chances are that you'll make a far greater impact in changing the world by taking small, incremental steps.

As a small company you can offer flexibility, growth, and learning along with a competitive pay.

Flexibility - Work remotely, set your own hours etc. We care about output/productivity & not how or when you work.

Growth - Make sure there's always a next level/challenge/goal/increased pay etc.

Learning - In small companies folks can (and should) wear different hats & get to learn about sales, business, marketing etc. on the job.

I'd look at SO Developer survey & focus on things that matter to people apart from company vision & pay.

You don't. It works only after you get enough funding to afford them. Initially you just stay focused on getting simple things done. And done well. That attracts better people through your satisfied customers and investors.

Treat them better than average? Maybe 4 day workweeks or unlimited paid time off. Maybe even treat them as friends.

> Is it only money then?

It's always only money. Most developers do not care much about the product they are building.

Why are you doing it if you’re not excited about it? Why are you excited about it if not the “vision?” Sometimes just the money is good enough. (And being realistic about this is way better than claiming to save the world with your b2b widget.)

Two ideas:

- Hire remotely including from outside of the US

- Hire older people.