STARTUPOFFSHORING

DAVID BUTLER, ANDY BRANDT

A SHORT OVERVIEW OF

STARTUP CAMP 2014 BASEL2014-02-08

POINTS WE’LL COVERAKA AGENDA

CONTRACTING OPTIONS HOW TO WORK WITH YOUR THEM? CLOSING/TRANSITIONING

WHY TO NOT OFFSHORE/OUTSOURCE? CHOOSING WHOM TO WORK WITH PRICING

We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice ,but: go for T&M or fixed? or maybe some other option?Plus it is a good idea to have realistic expectations asto how much security a contract gives you.

Once you have your team/developers you have towork with them.What methods to use, what tools can help etc.

If you expect your startup to be really successful andtake off like a rocket there will be a moment whenyou will want to have your own team – how totransition/close?

It may look like a strange way of opening a talk aboutoffshoring/outsourcing, but we feel it is a good ideato understand what tradeoffs are you making beforeyou take the plunge.

Lots of options and choicesto make: where to go & why? build a team or outsourceproject? what due diligenceto do?

You want to pay a fair market price – you don’t wantto end up ripped-off – but probably you also don’twant to exploit others. How to find then the rightprice?

STARTUP CAMP 2014 BASEL2014-02-08

WHY TO NOTOFFSHORE? UNDERSTANDING TRADEOFFS:

TEAM ENGAGEMENT -> CODE QUALITY, INVESTMENT IN THE CODE, CREATIVITY

ABILITY TO CHECK WORK, MOTIVATION ETC. OF YOUR TEAM

THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRODUCT & COMPANY

COST

OPTIONS YOU HAVE (IN ORDER OF “GOODNESS”): TEAM WITH YOU HERE – BEST IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT

YOUR OWN TEAM OFF-SHORE – SECOND BEST OPTION, BUT BUILDING IT CAN BE A CHALLENGE

SOMEONE’S TEAM (HIRE A COMPANY) – CAN BE OK, BUT IT WOULD BE “JUST A PROJECT” FOR THEM ALWAYS

A BUNCH OF FREELANCERS OFF ODESK ETC. – NOT RECOMMENDED UNLESS YOU ARE A DEVELOPER YOURSELF!

CHOOSING WHOM TO WORK WITH ASSUMING YOU WANT A READY TEAM – HOW DO YOU FIND IT?

LOCATION – CEE? EU? FAR EAST? ELSEWHERE? TIME ZONE DIFFERENCE, TRAVEL TIME – CEE IS BETTER THAN ASIA, SAME TIME ZONE, CHEAP TO VISIT

LANGUAGE – ENGLISH, SOME MAY SPEAK GERMAN, DON’T EXPECT ANY OTHER LANGUAGES

CULTURE – ESP. WORK ETHIC, ATTITUDE TOWARDS AUTHORITY, QUALITY, PUNCTUALITY ETC.

CHECK THE REFERENCES!

GOOD GEEKS ARE VISIBLE IN THEIR COMMUNITY – THEY SHOULD BE VISIBLE IN THE COMMUNITY FOR THEIR

TECHNOLOGY OF CHOICE

IT IS BETTER TO VISIT THEM, BUT DON’T OVERESTIMATE THAT!

…BUT EVEN BETTER TO TRY THEM OUT – RUN A SPRINT OR TWO WITH THEM.

PRICING

UNDERSTANDING LOCAL PRICE POINTS WAGES ETC. ESPECIALLY FOR DEVELOPERS IN THE “TARGET COUNTRY” – KNOW THEM!

Eg. Poland – an average developer will earn ~2500 CHF / month etc. However, company cost of employing a developer is 2x the earnings due to taxes etc.

PRICES ETC. – HAVE AT LEAST SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOCAL CONDITIONS

TAKE MULTIPLE OFFERS, BUT DON’T GO FOR THE LOWEST BIDDER (UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THEY BID SO LOW)

ASK QUESTIONS!

CONTRACTINGOPTIONS BASIC CONTRACTING OPTIONS YOU CAN HAVE:

T&M – PER TEAM OR PER PERSON, PER DAY, MONTH OR SPRINT FIXED BIDS – “WE’LL DO A PROJECT TO THIS SPEC WITHIN THIS TIME” – AVOID THIS! HTTP://GOO.GL/FXVCXI OTHER MODELS LIKE THE “CHANGES FOR FREE” CONTRACT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTRACTS AND METHODS USED

UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CONTRACT YOU HAVE REALLY GIVES YOU WHAT IS YOUR RISK COMPARED TO THEIR RISK? (YOU RISK YOUR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, THEY JUST SOME OF THEIR FEES) HOW ENFORCEABLE THE CONTRACT REALLY IS? (IN CEE THE FURTHER EAST THE LEAST PROTECTION A CONTRACT WILL GIVE

YOU)

OF COURSE – ASK A LAWYER! (BUT BE PREPARED FOR UNSATISFACTORY ANSWERS, AS LAWYERS SOMETIMES AVOID CLEAR-CUT ANSWERS TO

PROTECT THEMSELVES)

HOW TO WORK WITH YOUR TEAM? SELL THEM THE PRODUCT!

YOU WANT THEIR ENGAGEMENT BEYOND JUST COLD PROFESSIONALISM NO MATTER WHAT IS THE LEGAL SETUP IF YOU CAN’T GET THE DEVELOPERS EXCITED HOW YOU HOPE TO GET YOUR CLIENTS EXCITED?

METHODOLOGIES MATTER USE AGILE – AND MAKE SURE IT IS NOT “PRETEND AGILE” MAKE SURE THEY USE MODERN PRACTICES/METHODS NOT ONLY IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT NEVER FALL FOR THE ILLUSION THEY WILL DELIVER WHAT YOU NEEDED BASED ON A SINGLE SPEC DOCUMENT!!!

BE IN TOUCH, LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO CHECK THE TEST SERVER, THE BOARD, TALK TO THEM DAILY IF YOU CAN’T APPOINT A PM/PO IN YOUR OFFICE HERE VISIT AS OFTEN AS FEASIBLE LOOK AT THE CODE – IF THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO GIVE YOU ACCESS TO YOUR CODE FROM DAY ONE: RUN!

LOTS OF TOOLS TO HELP YOU!

CLOSING -TRANSITIONING CONSIDER THIS BEFOREHAND – AGAIN, THIS IS PART OF THE TRADEOFF YOU MAKE BY OFFSHORING

OPTIONS: TRANSITION THE WORK, LEAVE THE TEAM (ESSENTIALLY THE ONLY OPTION IF WORKING WITH A COMPANY) TRANSITION KEY TEAM MEMBERS KEEP THE TEAM OTHER?

PROFILES

Andy is an experienced manager, team builder andentrepreneur.

His experience includes e-business, e-commerce,mobile solutions, telco (ISP, cellular operators),software development and Internet systems &services. He is also a Scrum.org’s Professional ScrumTrainer.

Between 2007 and 2010 Andy’s company – CodeSprinters – was providing software developmentservicescatering primarily for startups.

David Butler is a serial networker and social mediaaficionado. Both David’s strong social presence andhis love of testing beta versions of new productscoming from Zurich’s many startups, have made hima sought afteradvisor in many industries.

Fully engaged in the Swiss Startup Scene, promotingit’s innovation with events, networking, social media,and connectingthe dots.

4 years experience working in a startup with aremote team

Andy Brandt David Butler

HTTP://ABOUT.ME/ANDY.BRANDT HTTP://WWW.SOCIALAXLE.COM/

THANK YOU!AND GOOD LUCK