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Finding a Ready-Made Dev Team?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the just-add-water dept.

marshrew writes "We are a small startup just coming out of a period of R&D with IP and prototype code (containing open source, commercial & freelancer-built custom components) developed/integrated in-house by essentially one guy. We're at the point where we want to build out first commercial implementation which will require a handful of developers for at least six months. We really don't have time or funds to go through a developer recruiting cycle, create a practice, get the team "gelled" etc. What we'd really like to do is find a small pre-existing team which which we could form a relationship to get our product out the door and possibly continue working with. We don't mean a splinter group from a larger dev house, but an agile, self-contained team, who enjoy working together and have an existing practice. Geography is not a problem as we are used to working in a distributed manner." Does such an animal exist? What have other teams done in a situation like this?

13 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. OSS Community? by chrstphrb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Have you given SourceForge http://www.sf.net/ a good looking over for projects similar in scope and application to yours? Seems to me it shouldn't be too hard to find a group already working together working on X.application developing in X.language. Good luck...

  2. Be cool enough by pmv · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Speaking as a developer starting out, and having just joined a startup myself, I believe if your project is cool enough, people will be willing to work with you. And what's more, the people you'll attract will most likely be the ones who stand to contribute most to the project. The converse is also true. Startups have succeeded and and failed according to this rule.

    Motivation is a key factor among geeks. Spread awareness of the project, show people that it's worth something, and that its success is in their best interests, and you can stand back and watch the magic. Of course, that's easier said than done. Learn to manage your geeks.

  3. Consulting Engineers by Hektor_Troy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If we abstract it a bit, it sounds like exactly the type of work my previous employer contracted inhouse. They specialized primarily in building automation, but that's just a different field of work.

    I would be surprised if you couldn't find consulting engineers (no clue what you call them in English) that specialize in software development. While I don't personally know of any, try calling around to various consulting engineers, or visit in person if there are any in the local area. I know that my employer had calls like that at least once a week (not software development though), and they never had a problem in directing people to the right company (knowing that they in turn will direct people to them). Even if they don't know a company for sure, they'll probably know who might know, or they'll get curious and start asking around themselves.

    I hope this helps - and if you manage to find some that do this, by all means tell the rest of us - we never know if it might come in handy.

    --
    We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
  4. Re:IBM Global Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In the long run, you'd almost certainly be better off hiring developers of your own. Hiring developers from companies like IBM GSA, CSC, etc. is a recipe for disaster if you aren't very careful about the contracts and other legal niceties, they'll eat you for breakfast, and then go out for seconds.

    Another poster also comments on long term support and maintenance. Combine all these factors, and I would strongly recommend keeping it in house. Yes, it's a pain, but it'll be better in the long run.

    In any event, good luck.

  5. Funding is a problem and will remain a problem. by pelorus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The way one local (and now powerful) company did it was by "hiring" people for pizza. If the product is cool, then you'll corral some college geeks to do the groundwork and free up your good coders for the cool work.

    This has been touched on recently in some blogs ( http://www.wilshipley.com/blog/ and http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/00 0713.html ) that college students, who were used and abused during the bubble, remain a good resource of, dare I say it, cheap labour. They like the prestige, need the experience, and are used to working in small project teams. And yeah, you can pay them peanuts.

    And no, they don't even need to be in college. Two of the most impressive code monkeys I know dropped out of High School.....

  6. How IBM Conned My Execs Out Of Millions by didiken · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well, since you're posting as anonymous with high praise for IBM Global Service, let's see this counter argument from Kuro5hin: How IBM Conned My Execs Out Of Millions .



    This is a first-person account of how IBM was able to con my execs out of millions of dollars. Gullible management tries to swim with the shark and gets chewed to pieces. Witness the exec-level FUD sales techniques and the $325/hr subcontractor labor bait and switch....     More...

    1. Re:How IBM Conned My Execs Out Of Millions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Nice link, but it has zero relevancy to our relationship with IBM. If you're an idiot and don't manager hourly billing with any vendor you will get burned. That's especially true when dealing with lawyers and more so with Certified Public Crooks^H^H^H^H^H Accountants. For programmers you will get burned if you don't give them good specs and make sure they're giving you what you need as they're building. The sooner you correct a programmer the cheaper it is.

      Also, in the link the guy admitted:

      There was one IBM consultant on site, and a second would show up occasionally.

      The nine IBM programmers we had were in the office next door. Every single day I saw their progress. The project manager was in town for a minimum of two days per week. Paying $325/hour to a group of programmers you never meet sounds like a recipe for disaster. If they're software isn't doing what you need, then you won't know it until later and it will be more expensive to fix.

      We paid about $75/hour for 40 hours per week (even though IBM required they work many more hours per week) plus living expenses (which weren't that much since the owner of the company owns an apartment complex and the grocery store next door to it and the restaurant in our office building). I've heard that IBM charges more now, but I don't know their current rates. From hints I got from the programmers as to their pay, I think they made about $2k per week which comes-out to $50/hour for 40 hours (well, they really worked about 110 hours per week so that comes-out to $18/hour without overtime). All nine guys were pretty good, and we brought in a friend of the owner that's a world-class programmer. They worked well with him even though he wasn't an IBM employee like the rest.

      And in all the years of working with GS, I have never seen them subcontract. Every single person I met that worked for them did not work for a contractor of IBM. That article claimed IBM subcontracted and then the subcontractor hired sub-subcontractors. The article's claim is a load of crap from what I've seen.

      Another way to look at it is, how would you find a group of local guys that work together well that are all willing to work 80+ hours per week? The time constraints we had were severe so I needed a few good programmers that could work a lot. I didn't have time to keep training new people or holding meetings so a large group could stay current. I can't find a single descent programmer locally, and I've been in IT for 34 years. I called IBM and two weeks later their team was in the office. They were all friends. They had all worked together. Since they were out of town and all single, they were able to work about 15/hours per day 7 days per week we needed. We were so happy with them that we not only paid for every meal. We brought it to them. We hired chefs to cook for them in their apartments so they could save time. We hired maids at our expense to keep their apartments clean and to wash their clothes. We gave them $3k cash to upfit their office. We wouldn't have done those things unless we were happy with them.

  7. What's in it for the developers? by femto · · Score: 4, Interesting
    What is in it for the developers? The real value in any start up is the people, not the product. Rather than being a start up company looking for a development team, perhaps you are really a product looking for a start up company?

    I don't mean to be facetious. It's just the team you describe would normally be 90% of the value of a company, so they will be in the position of strength. In their position my first question would be "Why should we go with you when we could probably get to same position by ourselves?", especially given that you seem to be low on resources.

  8. build your own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My experiences from a few years freelance consulting in mid-sized development projects are:

    • If you know what you want to achieve and who you need, it doesn't take long to build a team (maybe 2 weeks)
    • you can build a team gradually - start with the project manager and technical lead; add analysts and architects first, and add QA staff later; involve the project manager and technical lead in the team building process
    • for being a team it is more important to have a common vision than having worked together for a certain amount of time; people working together for the first time generally have a lot of respect for each other and for the goal they need to achieve, and there's less 'team politics' to deal with
    • a common vision comes from 1) a clear, defined goal and 2) good leadership; you have to provide (1), the latter must be provided by the project manager and technical lead
    • try to establish a long term relationship with one or two of the team members - you will need them for bugfixing and version 2

    Of course, there are also downsides to building your own team, and you are probably aware of them. I would go and build my own.

  9. Have you looked at... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    http://www.scguild.com/

    It's the Software Contractors' Guild. An organization of Software Contractors and Consultants worldwide.

    You can list by many aspects.

  10. NO, no, no, ... by hummassa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    what about a serious and renowed technology firm? These guys have your team ready and can assemble/send you a new one -- a GOOD one -- in a matter of days. OR they can manage them for you.
    Disclaimer: I don't work for them, I do NOT receive any $$$ from them, but most of them are former University colleagues of mine, and I can vow for their honesty and seriousness. Visit their website, give their clients a call, give them a call, IIRC they can even send someone to talk to you in person.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  11. Recommendation by Elrac · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've had a good working relationship for some years with SoftRP.net . The Web site says they're in Canada, and this may be true, but the outfit originates from the Ukraine. AFAIK, most are graduates from the University of Kiev.

    These are a varied and skilled bunch of coding mercenaries, and they quickly and graciously executed a number of small projects for me (figureheading for a small company that was the actual customer). Their prices are a bit higher than your run-of-the-mill Indian/Chinese shop, but that was compensated by their ability to think for themselves and produce a working product off a simple, not overly detailed spec. Also, and I find this important, they ask questions rather than stumbling into blind alleys. As I mentioned, I'm a one man show and my projects were small, on the order of few man-weeks, and I was sorry not to have a decent-sized job for them to chew on. They certainly suggested they had manpower in reserve.

    No, I'm not affiliated or kickbacked or anything. I'm just a satisfied customer and would likely hire them again for the next project that comes up.

    --
    When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Rel
  12. Re:Dev Team hiring by daigu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    On the whole, this is good advice. However, I would like to provide more detail here:

    "It's just suicide to try to contract that out to someone else. It's one thing (and highly recommended) to outsource ANCILLARY business functions (accounting, legal, etc.) that to you are basically a commodity. But not your crown jewels. Did Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, or frankly ANY successful startup start by outsourcing/offshoring the development of their core IP?"

    You can do this if you core IP is marketing and after you have been established. Nike would be one classic example where the company thinks of itself as a marketer of shoes not a maker of them. Tom Hilfiger use to be a bunch of upscale shops in New York - and now they make their money licensing the name.

    The key wrinkle is start-up companies. I think it is possible to have management be your core competency. The fact that you are taking the chance, approving the specs, and bringing something to market that hasn't existed before (and fills an important need) is something of value. The problem with this is two-fold: 1. It is difficult to do and 2. Once you prove it is possible, you will spawn copy-cats (let's face it, management is not a specialized skill). Neither puts you in the position for the long term success of a Google, Yahoo or whatever.