Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.
By Sasha Pasulka
I’m frightened already. After four years of running acelebrity gossip website, I’m no stranger to some serious hate in thecomments. I’d hoped to avoid that with this new writing gig.
“How angry can startup people get in the comments of a blogpost?” I thought. But this is my second post, and I’m already bracing myself.
I want to talk about outsourcing development work overseas. Iwant to talk about it not because I’m an expert on the topic, but because Iwant to share my experience with it, and I want to read your responses and yourthoughts in the comments.
Sticker Shock
In the early stages of my startup – a portfolio ofwomen’s-interest websites — I did all my own development work. Granted, thiswas not especially challenging work: developing WordPress themes, some PHP hereand there, tweaking for SEO, integrating plugins and the like. But I did itmyself, and it didn’t cost me anything other than some hours that might havebeen better spent asleep.
Today, I’m in the process of redesigning and rebranding mywebsites. The thing is, the world’s changed a lot in four years. As my goalsexpand, so do the set of skills I need to realize them. I can no longer developa competitive website by myself, complete with all the technical components Ineed to attract and retain readers.
Well, I probably could, but I would never sleep, I’d have nofriends, and, by the time I was finished, the iPad would have an app thatgenerates WordPress themes simply by reading your thoughts.
So I started looking around for developers to create aWordPress theme with a clear set of requirements, graphics provided. I lookedin my network. I looked at U.S. design firms online. I Twittered about it. Thequotes came in: $2500, $6000, $10,000.
“Sheesh,” I thought. “If you know what you’re doing, itshouldn’t take more than a day or two to create a site that meets theserequirements.”
The bids just felt … kind of ridiculous.
Hiring a Freelancer
I posted my project on Freelancer.com – a service I’ve usedin the past. Bids came in quickly – from Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, India. Thebids were $250, $350, $700. I went with Alex (probably not his real name), aguy from Vietnam, whose profile indicated a solid history of being ranked highby his former employers.
Alex spoke imperfect but intelligible English. Hecommunicated with me daily regarding his progress. I provided feedback. And, in the end, I got the product Iwanted, for around 10% of what it would have cost me to hire a development anddesign team in the U.S.
I’ll note that I did end up paying an additional 6% in“transaction fees,” but it’s still far less than I would have paid otherwise.I’ll use Alex again.
I’ve learned to chat with a freelancer extensively beforehiring one, asking specific questions pertaining to the work I need done, tocarefully read any and all reviews of that freelancer (and to be wary if thereare none!), and, most importantly, to provide a clear set of requirements alongwith examples.
(Oh, and here’s a no-brainer I had to learn the hard way:They don’t actually need access to your database for early-stage testing. Ifthey ask, you should probably fire them on the spot.)
Of course, you can’t use outsource everything. Theheart of my business is celebrity, fashion and women’s-issues content. Forthis, I employ talented writers and top-notch photo agencies in LA and New York, and I pay themgenerously.
Outsourcing the WholeDev Team?
I have another project coming up. It’s still a little seedin my brain, but I’ve fallen in love with that seed, and I want it to grow.It’s a more tech-intensive project, but I don’t have the funds to hire afull-time development team here in Seattle.
I need to outsource if I’m going to take this on.
Can a system like this really work on a larger-scale devproject? Can it work as a long-term partnership for a startup? Last month,TechCrunch interviewed Jim Walsh, the CTO of GlobalLogic, an outsourcingservices provider, to ask this same question.
Jim – in what is, admittedly, a biased opinion – says yes.
“Firms that fail at globalizing R&D do so because theyeither pick the wrong partner … or because they throw stuff over the wall anddon’t invest in the intimate collaboration and goal alignment that true R&Drequires,” he says.
“It’s possible to get developers in Argentina, China, EasternEurope and India … who are just as talented – and in some cases just asexperienced and innovative – as those in Silicon Valley. They key is to setyour bar high and hand-pick your team in the same way that you would if youwere doing the development right here at home.”
The Guilt Factor
I’d rather hear all this from you folks now than learn itthe hard way myself, so let me have it. I once got hate mail from Mini Me (long story — ask me sometime), so I can take it.
