This is how I recommend building your software team for broke startups.
1 people: A Software Generalist, Full-Stack for both front-end & back-end. Knows how to set up a hosting package, set up a basic deployment from development to production.
2 people: Add a QA to the team. Engineers are notorious for thinking their codes reign supreme. QA’s #1 job is to bring them down to earth.
3-5 people: Add a Lead Engineer/Software Architect and UI/UX. At this stage, I also recommend adding more specialized engineers (front-end, back-end, database).
6-10 people: Add a manager, a DevOps/Site Reliability Engineer and Automation QA engineer.
11+ people: Add even more specialized engineers (Data Scientist, Machine Learning) and more QAs.
YOUR ACTIONABLE:
Continue expanding your network by joining engineers’ conversation on Reddit, Hacker News or plain ole’ LinkedIn. Post some thought-provoking questions such as “What makes a good Lead Engineer?” and watch them fight.