The Hiring Fantasy
Many executives think hiring a dedicated developer for their side project is the best of both worlds: no impact on the internal team, full control over the resource, and lower cost than an agency or venture studio. In theory, it makes sense. In practice, it almost never works.
Hiring takes 2-4 months at minimum: writing the job description, posting it, screening candidates, conducting interviews, making an offer, and waiting through a notice period. Your side project sits idle during this entire process.
Then there is the management overhead. A solo developer needs direction, code review, architecture guidance, and someone to discuss technical decisions with. If you are a CTO, you can provide this—but at the cost of your own time and cognitive bandwidth. If you are a CEO or COO, you are paying a developer to make architecture decisions with no oversight, which is how codebases become unmaintainable.
The True Cost Comparison
A mid-level developer with the skills to build a SaaS product independently (full-stack, DevOps, database design) costs $120-160K annually in salary and benefits. Before they write a single line of productive code, you have spent 3-4 months on hiring and 1-2 months on onboarding. Your first usable feature arrives 5-6 months after you decided to build.
An MVP Sprint costs $30-60K and delivers a launched product in 8-10 weeks. The development team is already assembled, already skilled in modern architectures, and already experienced in building SaaS products from zero to one. No hiring delay, no onboarding, no ramp-up.
Even if you plan to run the side project for years, the math favors outsourcing the MVP and hiring only after the product has proven market fit. Why commit to $120K+ annually before you know if anyone wants your product?
When Hiring Makes Sense
There are scenarios where hiring is the right choice—but they come later in the side project lifecycle. Once your product has achieved product-market fit, has predictable revenue, and requires ongoing feature development, a full-time developer provides consistency, deep product knowledge, and availability that project-based engagement cannot match.
The threshold is typically $15-25K in monthly recurring revenue. At this level, the product generates enough revenue to sustain a developer salary, and the ongoing development needs are substantial enough to justify full-time commitment.
Even then, many executive founders choose a hybrid model: a full-time developer for day-to-day maintenance and incremental features, supplemented by an external partner for major new features or architectural changes. This model provides the consistency of in-house development with the scalability of external partnerships.
The Outsource-First Strategy
The optimal strategy for most executive side projects is outsource-first, hire-later. Start with an external partner for the MVP. Validate the market. Generate revenue. Then—and only then—evaluate whether hiring makes sense.
This approach minimizes risk, maximizes speed, and preserves optionality. If the product does not find market fit, you have spent $30-60K instead of committing to a $120K+ annual hire. If it succeeds, you hire from a position of strength—with revenue, with a proven product, and with a clear understanding of the skills you need.
The executives who build the most successful side projects are the ones who treat the early stage as a capital-efficient sprint, not a permanent team-building exercise. Build fast, validate fast, and hire only when the market tells you to.
Ready to Build Your Side Project?
Executives across every industry are turning side project ideas into real products—without pulling a single engineer off their core team. The key is working with a partner who understands both the technical execution and the strategic context of building alongside a day job.
Sizzle Ventures helps executives go from idea to launched product in as little as 90 days. Our MVP Sprint is built specifically for leaders who need speed without sacrificing quality—and without touching their internal dev team.
Ready to explore what's possible? Start a conversation with Sizzle about bringing your side project to life.