Comments on: When You Should Hire a Dev Shop (other than “never”)

By: Matt S Trout

Matt S Trout — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:57:08 +0000

I was mulling over this, since I agree that “never” is definitely a good answer for core product development and yet a lot of the companies my team helps improve their development process and surmount technical challenges -are- startups. I ended up writing my thoughts up at:

http://www.shadowcat.co.uk/blog/matt-s-trout/hire-a-dev-shop-too/

Hopefully they provide some perspective from the POV of a different sort of development shop.

By: When You Should Hire a Dev Shop (other than “never”) | startup … Information

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:51:20 +0000

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By: bonnie sandy

bonnie sandy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:25 +0000

I actually see both sides of the issue. There actually need three elements The entrepreneur who can see opportunity and is willing to do the work necessary to develop a company that “solves the pain or adds pleasure’, the web developer who understands the technology, and someone with experience and expertise in the particular area being addressed, who can guide the development of the product to meet needs. Too many web startups are creating products without any real knowledge of the understanding (or definition) of the consumer and how they will use this product. They focus is on getting “investors’ without addressing who where and why of the consumers component… vital info for actually building an app that works. They then expect the developers to create a product meets the needs of their users! I have seen promising products fail simply because of the notion that the developer would solve the (wrongly -identified) problem. NYC is full of small businesses with expertise in many areas, who need the products that the tech community can design. the challenge is “bridging the divide” and getting the startups out of the tech bubble. I met recently with a startup that has an interesting and potentially lucrative product, the problem it was difficult for average consumer to use! The developers worked with their sole focus on “early adapters and the tech proficient” for a product they hope to eventually sell to the mainstream market! On the other hand I’ve heard some brilliant idea from folks with no connection to the tech startup community, but have needs for the survival of their businesses, and when the option is a web host(or reseller) or a developer I’ll direct them to the developer!

By: Flow » Blog Archive » Daily Digest for March 8th - The zeitgeist daily

Flow » Blog Archive » Daily Digest for March 8th - The zeitgeist daily — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:55:35 +0000

[...] Shared When Startups Should Hire a Dev Shop (other than "never"). [...]

By: Website Design Company

Website Design Company — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:54:34 +0000

This is our experience that in some cases customers are not clear themselves that what they want, they just tell the company that what is the objective of this app development and know this is depend on the designers and developers that how the convert their idea to reality.(and customer always has the right to change the design as its imaginations).

By: Brad Hargreaves

Brad Hargreaves — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:32:22 +0000

@Michael Schubert There are certainly great agile dev shops (and Pivotal is one of them), but most of the entrepreneurs I'm addressing here aren't debating between great agile dev shops. In fact, there are a lot of entrepreneurs with money and an idea who don't even know what agile development is. I'm talking to them. @Tony Pitale In my experience, there are a lot more dev shops out there that focus on a quick buck than good ones that try to build lasting relationships with entrepreneurs. That doesn't mean the latter doesn't exist, and I pointed out Pivotal above as one that bucks the trend. Your mileage may vary.

By: Michael Schubert

Michael Schubert — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:51:22 +0000

@Nivi I concur. Being an employee Pivotal Labs, I am biased but I would say yes that -4 should be a +4 if not more because if you do not know what you want, precisely what you need is an agile dev shop that will quickly iterate over your idea, kick out something and validate whether there is life to this thing. In my experience, hiring a gaggle of hackers may result in the same thing, but later… or fearing for their jobs they may prolong the situation. Agile dev shops should bring discipline and quicker results.

Good (experienced) agile dev shops will show you very quickly if you should pull the plug sooner rather then later. In the end, it is better for a dev shop’s reputation to do the right thing versus the short-term profitable thing (e.g. prolonging a bad idea) so they have financial motivation to do what is right for the startup not what is right for them. A group of contractors or motley crew of devs probably won’t just due to conflicting personal interests.

By: When You Should Hire a Dev Shop (other than “never”) | startup …

When You Should Hire a Dev Shop (other than “never”) | startup … — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:49:44 +0000

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By: Nivi

Nivi — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:18:08 +0000

The guys at Pivotal Labs address “-4 Points: You don’t know exactly what you want” very well. Actually any shop that does agile development with daily and weekly releases should. Scissor.com is another agile option.

By: Tony Pitale

Tony Pitale — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:08:51 +0000

Your initial assumption is 100% absolutely wrong. “They have zero incentive to create a quality product or understand the nuances needed to capture a market and please end users.” False.

What development shop/agency remains in business doing poor work? The best development shops pride themselves on doing great work. Maybe it’s about reputation, or in my experience at a development shop that works with startups, it’s more about forming a long-term relationship and helping great ideas get off the ground quickly, with a proven team, and proven quality.

By: Brad Hargreaves

Brad Hargreaves — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:44:13 +0000

@Victor Wong Good point, Victor. This post is primarily for new entrepreneurs with no product or dev team. I consider startups that already have an established process and project manager to be in a different pot entirely. It's a different discussion if you are, say, looking to outsource some features to a much cheaper overseas shop.

By: Victor Wong

Victor Wong — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:14:59 +0000

I would say that if you have a strong development team and need contract developers who can work well remotely and under your project manager, then you can also bring in a development shop. It helps when you want to ramp up development quickly but don’t have the time to locate the right long-term talent — it can even lead to new hires if they work out really well.