[quotedmycode]

Well, I'd ask for a portfolio, and if you do have some programmer friends that do have the experience, I'd ask them if they can sit in an interview with you. If a portfolio is not possible, I'd ask for some technologies that they've worked with, and try to find a project which uses those technologies. I'd ask for a work sample using whatever they are comfortable with, such as the 'TodoMVC' implementation, something small that can be finished in 4 hours that shows their skill. This isn't like you are hiring just a programmer, this is going to be one of the first programmers you hire, the one likely to set the standards. Yes, he may not respect your programming skill, but that's to be expected, programmers are prideful of their work. However they can be respectful of you while giving you the rundown of why what you wrote was wrong. You want to hire someone who is better than you at programming. At the same time you don't want someone who is an ass, that should be pretty easy to figure out.