Technical Co-Founder Vetting Platform: Assess Skills, Reduce Startup Risk.
The post highlights a critical pain point for founders: 'How did you test/assess a technical co-founder skills before bringing them on/giving equity? It just seems risky trusting their word.' This indicates a clear need for a reliable, structured way to evaluate technical talent for high-stakes, equity-based roles. A SaaS product could offer a suite of assessment tools, including customizable technical challenges, coding environment simulations, architecture design problems, and perhaps even psychological profiling for co-founder compatibility. It could serve as a neutral third-party verification service, reducing risk for founders and making the co-founder search more efficient and trustworthy. Monetization could be a tiered subscription for founders, offering different levels of assessment depth or access to a curated pool of vetted candidates.
Origin Reddit Post
r/startups
Assessing technical co-founder skill set. “I will not promote”
Posted by u/Coconutcornhuskey•07/25/2025
I will not promote. To my experienced founders. How did you test/assess a technical co-founder skills before bringing them on/giving equity? It just seems risky trusting their word before see
Top Comments
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/andupotorac
Work with them on a module or two. It should ideally be a few months of work. Also do coding sessions together. They should use AI and be 10x what devs used to do before. If not, keep looking
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/danielkov
If you know someone with a suitable skillset, you could ask them to help vet candidates. If you have the cash, you can also hire an agency that will take care of this for you.
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/andupotorac
Work with them on a module or two. It should ideally be a few months of work. Also do coding sessions together. They should use AI and be 10x what devs used to do before. If not, keep looking
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/danielkov
If you know someone with a suitable skillset, you could ask them to help vet candidates. If you have the cash, you can also hire an agency that will take care of this for you.
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/andupotorac
Work with them on a module or two. It should ideally be a few months of work. Also do coding sessions together. They should use AI and be 10x what devs used to do before. If not, keep looking
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/danielkov
If you know someone with a suitable skillset, you could ask them to help vet candidates. If you have the cash, you can also hire an agency that will take care of this for you.
u/andupotorac
Work with them on a module or two. It should ideally be a few months of work. Also do coding sessions together. They should use AI and be 10x what devs used to do before. If not, keep looking
u/danielkov
If you know someone with a suitable skillset, you could ask them to help vet candidates. If you have the cash, you can also hire an agency that will take care of this for you.
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/andupotorac
Work with them on a module or two. It should ideally be a few months of work. Also do coding sessions together. They should use AI and be 10x what devs used to do before. If not, keep looking
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some
u/GrandOpener
A non-technical person cannot ask questions that test the knowledge of a technical person. You just don’t have the skill to evaluate.
What you can ask is to introduce something they’ve work
u/danielkov
If you know someone with a suitable skillset, you could ask them to help vet candidates. If you have the cash, you can also hire an agency that will take care of this for you.
u/ray_action
Have someone help you assess them on technicals. The most important aspect is how well you get along. No point getting someone if you can’t bear them.
u/Shichroron
You do vesting with 1 year cliff. Then you assess if you like working with them. You do it monthly. And if they aren’t a fit, you fire them
u/momsSpaghettiIsReady
Use vesting cliffs and go with your gut. There's a lot of people that can blow smoke, but can't produce. Likewise for the contrary.
Ideally you find someone that you've worked with in some