| Over the last 3 years roaming in the startup | | | | end to end outsourcing life cycle. Many are common |
| community, I met a lot of people in the following | | | | business practices, but few specifics apply to offshore |
| situations. | | | | engagements like labor rates, project management |
| "I have a web 2.0 business idea." "I don't code so I am | | | | with remote teams, and cross cultural communications. |
| more on the "business" side of thing." (Frankly all | | | | I recommend this book, The Outsourcing Handbook. |
| non-techie founders said this) "I am looking for a CTO | | | | 3. Be as clear as possible with your requirements and |
| to prototype my idea so I can raise $5 million dollars | | | | provide many reference samples. Although it is difficult |
| from VC." "But so far I havn't found the right partner | | | | for startups because ideas are immature, try to define |
| yet" (it means haven't found anyone who wants to | | | | feature requirements in small intervals and avoid long |
| work on a bad idea for free) "And I can't hire full time | | | | software development cycles. You should also |
| programmer now so should I outsource to India?" | | | | communicate your visionary product road map to the |
| For startup founders with business background, | | | | offshore team so that they take future scalability into |
| offshore programming is a great solution to get cheap | | | | consideration. |
| engineering done for an early stage idea. However, | | | | 4. Hire local User Interface designer to help. I have |
| most of these startup projects failed because | | | | seen many offshore software projects failed because |
| founders have no experience managing outsourced | | | | of user interface issue. UI design is a specialized skill |
| projects. Problems come in 4 steps.a. Founders have | | | | that is heavily influenced by local cultures. The usability |
| no real experience managing software projects to | | | | acceptance is very different between Americans, |
| begin with.b. Because founders are inexperience in | | | | Indians and Chinese. You should consider hiring a local |
| software development, they rely on offshore vendor's | | | | UI designer / consultant to mock up your application |
| advice and technical expertise to drive the most critical | | | | before coding. Not only your product will have better |
| early stage development.c. Founders' ideas are | | | | look & feel fitting local style, but you also help |
| constantly changing with new market feedback which | | | | offshore developers visualize the application before |
| result in frequent change of software requirements.d. | | | | they code. It greatly reduces offshore project risks. |
| Finally changes are not communicated properly to the | | | | 5. Hire dedicated offshore developers. It may not be a |
| offshore team due to time, distance, language barriers | | | | bad idea to consider hiring dedicated offshore |
| and cultural differences. Project falls apart, relationship | | | | programmers for a few month to develop your early |
| sours and engagement fails. | | | | stage idea. Dedicated developers work on the time |
| Here are a few ideas startup founders can follow to | | | | & material basis. They are like your virtual |
| improve the success rate of their offshore software | | | | employees who are full time for you. This way, you |
| development projects. We will disregard feasibility of | | | | can work with the developers as ideas are refined. It |
| the startup idea for now and purely focus on tips to | | | | doesn't lock you down to specific development |
| help startup business founders to execute offshore | | | | requirements. The total cost of project can be lower if |
| programming works. | | | | executed properly. You should consult with your |
| 1. Pick up your software development knowledge. For | | | | offshore vendor to put together a team for you with |
| founders with absolutely no computer science | | | | the right skill set, domain knowledge, team size and |
| background, it is a good idea to burn through a few | | | | hiring period. |
| books on principles of software development. It is | | | | 6. Be extremely patient. Patience always pays off in |
| useful to at least learn how to analyze work flows, | | | | any offshore software development projects. |
| read use case diagram and understand why they | | | | Remember things will almost always take twice as |
| impact the entire system design. I recommend this | | | | long to finish than anticipated. You have to spend a lot |
| book, UML for the IT Business Analyst. | | | | of time communicating with the team and regularly |
| 2. Up your knowledge on offshore outsourcing. Same | | | | provide detailed feedback on their work progress. Do |
| applies here. Founders should also increase their | | | | use visual graphs, screen shots, and photos to help |
| knowledge on offshoring, especially offshore software | | | | explain your points. You are in the business to build |
| development. They should understand the process | | | | long term relationship. Patience and persistence with |
| involved in defining outsourced project requirements, | | | | your offshore partner will pay off in the long run. |
| selecting vendors, evaluating proposals and managing | | | | |