What does a developer do?

What are the roles played by an in house developer vs an outsourced company for a web based services marketplace involving non-technical founders, BEFORE the website launch and AFTER the website is up and running?

• We are non-technical founders of a web based services marketplace. We are planning to hire a developer, but most of the development will be outsourced due to the lack of resources to have a complete in-house development team. Regarding the role played by our in house developer vs. the outsourced company. Will our developer be the link between us and the outsourced company to translate our ideas into technical terms? will he be checking, testing, etc during the development process? Most importantly, what will the roles be AFTER the website is up and running? What would be the role of the outsourced company, and that of our in house developer? and does the amount of work needed at the time justify a full time employee? The answers might be straightforward but we are new to this and trying to figure things out. Thank you!

• Answer:

  Some context before I answer your question: I run a two years old startup that outsourced to three vendors before forming our own technical team. Before this startup, I have worked with close to 300 startups (between 2003 and 2006) and a handful of F500 firms, as both a service provider and customer for outsourced product development services. The startup that I run now, matches enterprises (including several early stage startups) with elite web/mobile development firms that understand the idea of building a product for a startup. So with that context being set, let me try to answer your question: To have a developer by your side, to understand an outsourcing team, interpret it for you and translate your expectations to them (and often, sensitize you & save you from yourself!) is a great idea. But, it's great only if it works. You need a developer who is a nuanced communicator, a pragmatic project manager, a top of the game engineer, one who knows his/her limitations, doesn't get defensive about it & understands the shortcomings  of the outsourced team and calls it out correctly. You may not get this person full time and you don't have to. Get them to commit an hour or two daily for your standup meetings and the rest of the communication with the development team. S/he is your fact checker, interpreter, problem solver, guide and occasionally developer! For all these expectations on the developer, you need an outsourced team that's equally good. So take help in finding the right teams. About what happens after the product is developed: Some perspective will help here. There is a product that someone started building in 1998 - Just a simple web page that throws some text information matching the user's queries. 15 years into it, they are still building the product (Hint: Search Google). So there is just no end to product development. You are just starting. When the product is built and there are periods of lull in development activity, outsourcing economics don't work on the vendor's favor. They'd rather chase the next deal than work on yours for an uncertain bucket of hours every now and then. Here's where bringing someone full time on board or even part time helps. There is always much to tweak daily, based on user feedback. If you product finds reasonable traction, there will never be a day where the developer won't have things to do. Outsourcing in the medium term as your primary development engine is expensive (near zero cost advantage, for the higher order skills that you need). So get the first 1-2 versions out, with the team, raise money or turn cash positive and get a team inhouse. You can still outsource parts of the product development activity that frees up the time of your best engineers. If you need further help, do reach out to me via .