The mistake most startups and corporates make is to look for a developer with good university or corporate backgrounds.

They fall into the trap of buying brand value.

Big corporates nor Computer Science Universities are being generated because of the engineering talent, but through a self fulfilling prophecy:

“I am big, I m perceived as good, and can get bigger.”

Google and others had to find out that good developers is as much a question of

• teaming (I am not afraid to publish my code to the world),
• ingenuity (I love learning new things), and
• reaching new heights through a grade “A” team (I m becoming better because others are pushing the limits)

A mixture of having worked in popular open source projects, as well as, in a consulting/startup/internet corporatehas the best potential for your initiatives.

You get passion, teaming, and skill!