Not sure about VC, but I know for a fact the private equity firms do this. It's usually in the context of a "standard operating procedure." I worked in two companies owned by a leading tech PE firm, and they had a standardized tech stack (with specific vendors) that we were expected to use. Us...
You have four jobs to do. 1. Attract/identify leads. 2. Qualify those leads. 3. Convert the qualified leads. and 4. Fulfill the orders. Do you have a system for each of these? 4. can lead into 1. with referrals. You want as pre-qualified a lead as you can get. Qualifying is filtering. I...
HI! Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. I would say write it in the language you are most familiar with. If you feel comfortable in Java, then it's a great choice. NodeJS is also a very popular choice for API servers, and Python has two great, slim tools in Flask and Eve: http://fla...
My go-to is Gun.io. Good experiences all around.
If you're not a coder, I don't know how you're going to publish code... but I'll look past that. The best thing to do is host the code on Github, then create a website for the project using Github Pages. At that point, gaining traction from the community so other people contribute to it has a lo...
For the design? The downside is that you could end up with a very generic looking application/site. It's also not your (or your developer's) code so there will usually be a period of time required to get used to it in order to make any adjustments. In the end, it may not really save you that muc...
I value your request for help. However, my experience is that a straight barter of design services for development services is not necessarily equitable, as design is most often a fraction of overall development effort and cost, albeit, design is critical and sets the stage for success in a proj...
Create an ideal customer profile. Create some questions that will allow to you survey a potential tester to determine if they fit your profile. Design simple landing page with very clear value proposition that speaks to your ideal customer. Ask for a minimum of information up-front (email), but ...
It will depend upon your relationship with the investor. If the investor have trust upon you, then you may pitch anytime, however, if you don't know the investor for long, then you have to follow a process. You may setup a call to discuss more.
The existing answers are good, and I agree with most of the price ranges that are mentioned. There is a huge range in rates and they are most affected by the region and the type of organization you are dealing with. For example, a small shop in E. Europe that is exceptional in Ruby and has prof...