Pick a big enough project, something that's really hard, something that over the years you can work on.

The one thing we learned over 5 years is that nothing works better than just improving your product.

Lots of people were skeptical, but that's always true when you do something that hasn't been done before.

Innovations seem inevitable in retrospect, but at the time it's an uphill battle.

Programmers have not been professionals because they haven't really cared about quality.

Pick a big enough project, something that's really hard, something that over the years you can work on.

Finding a programmer to work with if you don't already know one will be a challenge. Merely judging if a programmer is exceptional vs. competent will be very hard if you are not one yourself. When you do find someone, work together informally for a while to test your compatibility.