Top developers are what’s needed for start-ups. However, many start-ups simply do not have the necessary cash flow to hire A-list developers. Due to this phenomenon I’ve decided to offer best of both worlds to my clients by providing the service of being the architect of the technology while managing it’s development with outsourced developers.
Whether building an MVP or building out your current technology further, top developers are a must-have for start-ups. Beginner developers, or for that matter developers whom have only worked with a specific technology, are not equipped with enough experience to be able to decide on and build the best architecture for any start-up or industry. Strapped for funds, I have seen many a start-up go the route of hiring a developer just out of college or even in high school just to get their project up and running. Diving into such projects after this has happened opens up a lot of unforeseen bugs, a mess of a technology and a purely un-scalable product. Most of the times the technology has to be re-written in order to support the scale of the business. You need someone who knows what they are doing when architecting your technology from the onset of your project.
However, top developers are expensive and hiring developers oversees is very tricky. There are a lot of teams out there that come very cheep and promise everything will be built to the best of standards, but unfortunately fall short on all angles when the delivery date comes. One of the biggest problems is that the best way to work with an oversees developer is through clearly outlined feature guidelines. The guidelines act to make sure there is no miscommunication in the expected features of the resulting technology. The guidelines are not only with regards to the design but also with regards to the technology used as well as architectural and programming patterns. And for this, a lead technology “partner” is needed in order to, not only outline these guidelines, but also to make sure they have been executed correctly within the technology itself.
Another problem when hiring an outsourced developer is the vetting process. Many start-ups I talk to do not know how to properly vet their developers, and rightly so as their main focus is on the business side. This, once again, is a very good reason to have a top developer on your side helping you hire the best outsourced developers, vetting them accordingly.
Building technology to be the base of your start-up is not as easy as hiring any developer and giving them feature specifications. There are a lot of decisions to be made while choosing, architecting and developing your technology. And this task can only be performed by someone whom has enough experience to be able to do just that. Hiring out oversees developers while working with such a person gives you the best cost to value ratio.
