Ask HN: Is outsourcing though Elance/Guru a reasonable way to get started

I have several ideas for web apps that I would like to pursue. I would love to begin working on one of them, but do not have a great programming background (my current capability is in front end design/UX). I am planning on spending as much time as possible over the last year of my degree teaching myself a major web-focused programming language (such as Python, Ruby, or PHP). However my current time constraints don't allow me enough time to do everything myself. My questions are these: Is using a service such as Elance or Guru to pay for some help a viable way to begin working on a prototype of an app? If so, how is the best way to approach this sort of a situation?