Technology

Finding a Programmer in St. Louis

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Today, so many businesses need programming help for apps, websites or the heavy-lifting back-end of their businesses. There are a ton of reputable IT businesses, but they are busy and their prices can be too high for start-ups. So people come to me looking for places to find programmers who will work for free, cheap or equity. I asked by some St. Louisans I depend on for entrepreneurship information and here were their suggestions:

Strange Loop conference (annual, entrance fee, buy it early)
StartLouis
STL Meetup groups for programmers
ITEN’s (www.itenstl.org) new Strategic Interest Group (SIG), in collaboration with the local chapter of the App Developers Alliance.
STL Hackathon
Craigslist has a listing for computer gigs.
You could post at the T-rex incubator
Look at the IT firms listed here – http://www.acceleratestlouis.org/Resources?search=1574.
Local colleges have departments like MIS,  computer engineering or computer sciences, you could post there.
Ask your own alma mater if they can refer you to someone on campus.

More generally you could try:
1 Million Cups at 9am every Wednesday morning at nineNetwork.
St. Louis version of Startup Digest (www.startupdigest.com) for  upcoming entrepreneurship events.
Also, just ask your facebook, linkedin or other social network friends.

Realize that these are not situations where you can sit back and wait for people to come to you. After all, you’re not paying big or a brand name gig for their resume. If you try the above, you need to be the one getting out and networking, passing out your business card (maybe with a sticker on the back describing your programming need), and working the room.

This entry was posted in Entrepreneurship, St. Louis Region, Technology.