This might not be exactly what you are looking for, but could be very helpful to look at some of the responsive web frameworks like Foundation (http://foundation.zurb.com/).
This article nicely summarizes the pains of finding a co-founder. I will definitely share this with others in the same boat. I believe the saying goes, "you will find someone when you stop looking".
I have just started looking for a co-founder and I think the hard part is finding someone that has the same level of passion and enthusiasm to solve the problem I am trying (in educational space). I strongly believe that only someone with that strong passion could possibly endure all the effort required to get a startup going somewhere.
Great article! I have a rabid passion about this space and have been thinking and researching it for last 2 years. The five minutes I spent reading this has taught me more about the space than the last 2 years. I also think this resonates with me because it just shows how hard it will be to be disruptive and how jacked up it really is in the US.
This problem is very basic and might attempt to demonstrate the candidate's competency around basic algorithms, data structures, and performance (although nothing was specified about efficiency and this is very basic). I feel like good programmers code all the time and love to solve problems with code. So it seems like the average coder would not have much aversion to something like this.
The biggest issue is that it may not even reflect the domain that the candidate would normally work in. What if this was a javascript job? Would this be a good filter?
As developers, we have access to so much information on so many topics around computer science. I think they are important to know, but they can also be referenced and learned. It seems like an invaluable skill set (at early stage startups) is to be able to "figure stuff out".
For me, the ideal hiring process is to do a quick phone screen and filter by existing code sample, then "hiring" a candidate for the day, have them come in, work on a small project alone for half the day, then spend the other half pairing and refactoring the project. This may seem like a lot, but you learn important things, like if someone can quickly work on something on their own, how they work with other team members, an example of their personality with team and in office, etc.
At the end of the day, I am looking to hire people that "fit" personality-wise and can get sh*t done, groking what they need to and overcoming any obstacles in the way.
However, after diving a lot into Lean Product and UX Design, I have learned that the hardest part is finding problems worth solving. In my opinion, being able to discover problems that have terrible solutions and workarounds are really where good ideas are spawned, then "hypothesized" and "validated".
A little late in the conversation. I think if it is something you are passionate about, you should stick with it. Maybe you can find a partner that can do UX/Graphic design or whichever skills you need but lack.
I strongly agree with all the advice around mobile. I would even consider trying to use mobile to crowdsource some of the data entry. Maybe incorporating some game mechanics will help here. For inspiration, maybe you could make the "beer" version of Spotify, Forkly, or DishOnIt.
Consider creating an API around your beer database and promote that some, could be win/win as it sounds like a pain point for more than just yourself.
Additionally, you should try and get in touch with the users that use it every day and the ones that abandoned it. Try to determine why they stay/left, this could really help you focus on the important aspects.
Lastly, go learn about Dave McClure's AARR metrics, get them in place so you can experiment more with the Acquisition and Activation funnels. I am guessing if you had a lot more users, you would be much happier.
This book: http://www.runningleanhq.com/ called Running Lean is a concise how-to for Lean Srartups. I think it is the only book that gives you real specifics.
I think this is some of the best advice on hiring for a startup I have seen in a while. I just don't think the typical "reverse all the words of a sentence in place" is as helpful. With stuff like StackOverflow, it seems much more valuable that someone can figure something out and "get shit done", especially in a startup where there is so much to do.
Going forward, I will probably only hire someone after seeing them work on a small project, maybe even pairing with them in the process.