Startup Tech: The Outsourcing Odyssey

Do not outsource your startup tech before reading this first

A CTO’s candid take on the enticements and pitfalls of delegating your tech dreams.

There have been many empire declines due to IT outsourcing. While managing tech providers, from decades-long legacy partners, software houses or just freelancers, I have seen enough to know that outsourcing your tech is not as easy as it might seem in the first instance.

What are some common reasons to outsource tech?

Software houses want to sell, so you will easily find multiple arguments why working with them is the decision of a lifetime. You will reduce costs, save time… All the good stuff! They sell themselves like they’re the latest miracle diet.

Now, if doing things in-house means building tech like you’re stuck in the 90s, responding to biased product managers and resorting to outdated, inexperienced or just overall poorly coders… then yeah, the propaganda is probably right. But I’ll argue that that’s not most of the cases and that it’s a case-by-case, project-by-project decision.