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The other issue with judging sample code is the sheer amount of time it takes. The two of us took around 3 months (full time, effectively, doing nothing else) to select, interview and make offers to around 10 employees out of a pool of over 100 qualified applicants.

You can sort of understand why companies try to develop less time consuming methods, and why experienced developers prefer to hire from their network...

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Thanks for the data on the evaluation time. 9-10 hours per applicant is nontrivial, I agree. If you've worked with someone shoulder to shoulder, I can also see that being as effective. The problem I hear is that depending on the experience and number of the founding team, they can exhaust their network quickly.

Peopleware has the idea of auditions, and I thought if you were clear about what you wanted, applicants would be comparable. I'm thinking, "Walk us through a project you did that demonstrates your knowledge of code quality." Or similar, with a clear list of what you're hoping to see.

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