Call a Dev
Web and SaaS
expert marketplace
SHOW HN2021
451points
248comments
#53of 2,533 in 2021
Top 3%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 43 neutral or asking, 6 mixed, 51 critical, out of 111 comments about the project. Thread score -0.38.
Pricing: 4 for, 28 againstIdea: 6 for, 16 againstExecution: 1 for, 3 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea for quick help and perspective
From 2 comments
This reminds me of the premium-rate 1-900 numbers back in the day. I specifically remember seeing one of them which offered tips and strategies if you were stuck in a video game.…
sidpatil on HNNot unlike codementor, though the landing page maybe has a bit different value proposition. There they offer mentoring, this one looks more like specialized problem solving. But,…
atleta on HN
Objections
Pay rate too low for experienced developers
From 4 comments
You'll need some mechanism to raise rates to attract top developers. Even without the first free minute and time spent reading questions, the most a dev could hope to earn with…
kjhughes on HNThe idea looks interesting, but a couple things of note that make me kinda wary: - $0.75/min is $45/h and it's awfully cheap for what's ultimately consulting work - 1 free minute…
Ragnarork on HNThis interesting to me. I spent the last 4 years teaching programming full time, and also have a decently high SO reputation. I've recently gone back to full time software…
armadsen on HNI used to provide services like this, but at a much higher rate. $60/hr is not competitive at all, especially if you're charging by the minute without a minimum of at least one…
heavyset_go on HN
Hard to verify developer skill
From 2 comments
Site is down right now. I'm wondering if there's any mechanism to verify the developer you're paying for help. If I'm going to be paying, how do I know this person is actually…
ufmace on HNMany comments highlight the issue of verifying developers. Did you think of leveraging Github Sponsor program?. Developers can be verified via github profile and paid through the…
_lemur on HN
Anonymous posts and trolls in question list
From 1 comment
Considering the questions tab currently includes "What the fuck is this?" and "Why is my butt full of poop?" I am going to assume they will turn off anonymous posting soon.
Closi on HN
Requests
Higher rates or rate tiers based on Stack Overflow reputation
From 3 comments
You'll need some mechanism to raise rates to attract top developers. Even without the first free minute and time spent reading questions, the most a dev could hope to earn with…
kjhughes on HNInteresting idea, but doesn't seem competitive for Americans to ever respond, if you only pay them $0.75/min after the first minute and the experts have to search for questions…
the_jeremy on HNI liked what another commenter said about adding tiers for devs with higher S/O rep. So if the dev has a higher rep, they can make more $ per minute. Something I'll look into…
mcadenhe on HN
Support for payment methods other than Stripe
From 1 comment
I love it, and I think $45 USD an hour is great (it comes to $7,200 USD a month) which is great for the part of the world I am in. My worry is about the payout, which apparently…
xtracto on HN
Report button and moderation
From 1 comment
I built this app and want to say first and foremost, thanks for checking it out! I also want to address a few common things I've seen mentioned. > 75¢ a minute is not enough I…
mcadenhe on HN
Questions
How quickly will a response come in
From 2 comments
A question here, it seems like the flow is: 1. I post a question. 2. Someone elects themselves as a candidate to answer that question. 3. I receive notification of the candidate…
munk-a on HNDo you have any guarantees about how quickly a response will come in? I'm a bit concerned that the low payrate to the dev means that you're likely to miss higher skilled…
munk-a on HN
How will developers be verified
From 1 comment
Site is down right now. I'm wondering if there's any mechanism to verify the developer you're paying for help. If I'm going to be paying, how do I know this person is actually…
ufmace on HN
Alternatives named
Codementor
From 3 comments
nice, I use codementor, so I'm in your target market. Do you have devs signed up?
mritchie712 on HNNot unlike codementor, though the landing page maybe has a bit different value proposition. There they offer mentoring, this one looks more like specialized problem solving. But,…
atleta on HNThanks for checking it out! I could never guarantee that tho as Call a Dev is mostly self-service from the standpoint of the question asker and the question answerer. I wanted to…
mcadenhe on HN
Fiverr
From 1 comment
Interesting idea. When I use Fiverr to hire a dev, I often have to contact multiple prospective devs to figure out that their skills are a match for the problem I'm trying to…
hntrader on HN
Stack Overflow
From 1 comment
I'd guess that the people at Stack Overflow might have an issue with someone using their name in this way. It should probably be clearer that this is entirely unaffiliated. 100+…
fabian2k on HN