Too Many Startup Ideas, Not Enough Developers?

In William Shakespeare’s Richard III, Richard cries out during the battle of Bosworth Field, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse” before he killed in a duel with Henry, Earl of Richmond.

In the startup world, many entrepreneurs may find themselves crying “A developer, a developer, my startup for a developer”. This has a lot to do with a demand and supply problem; there are no lack of ideas for online startups but only so many developers to go  around, particularly top-notch developers.

This has left many startups scrambling for all kinds of talent from UI and UX to backend and database programmers. As much as a startup wants to execute on a great idea, it is difficult to move aggressively without enough horses.

This may explain why there has been a growing number of blog posts and articles about the importance of startup founders to know how to code, even if their efforts are pretty basic. It also accounts for the interest in training/education startups such as Codecademy, Don’t Fear the Internet and Treehouse, which help people learn how to code or improve their skills.

Over the past few years, the barriers to entry to create an online startup have crumbled as costs are come way down. It’s easier than ever for someone with a good idea to turn into a service. The challenge is attracting enough talent (developers, design, marketing and sales) to transform the idea into a viable and vibrant business.

It is the proliferation of ideas that is turning developers into rock stars. Having top-notch people and a team that can drive and support a startup’s growth can be a major competitive differentiator. The problem is there doesn’t appear to be enough talent to support all these ideas, which leaves many of them wilting on the vine.