Ready to build a tech team? Here’s a few things to remember:
Building a startup takes considerable time, effort, and resources – just some of the reasons why you really have to take careful consideration of who you bring in. And if your product relies, to a certain degree, on technology, then it’s important that you build your tech team properly.
But how do you do that?
Wait, do you even need to build your own tech team?
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Ray Refundo, CEO of Philippine-based online payment gateway Qwikwire, discussed during QBO Philippines’ QLITAN event some tips and tricks on building a tech team.
Interns are a great source of potential employees
If done well, an internship is a mutually beneficial agreement, wherein startups with limited finances get the people resource they need in exchange for minimal cost and training, and where students and/or beginners can further develop their skills while gaining hands-on experience in a real-world setting.
“Getting employees that started off as your interns is a good thing. Not only have you seen and had a hand in their skills development, they also become entrenched in your company and stay because they believe in what you do.”
-Ray Refundo, Qwikwire
And while tech interns lack experience, that may not be a bad thing – it means that they have no preconceived loyalties to established business-related solutions, making them more open to new ideas and less averse to finding new solutions.
Consider outsourcing
The goal is getting your product out there quickly, which means that you have to build your tech team – something that takes a lot of time when taking into account sourcing, screening, and training – at the shortest amount of time possible. For startups with limited time and resources, outsourcing can be the solution.
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Outsourcing tech requirements means that you get the services of professional and experienced tech developers, minus the administrative costs of actually hiring manpower.
It may seem counterintuitive to outsource instead of hiring a tech team, given that you may want the people building your product to be internal team members. However, for early-stage startups still in the product development stage – a stage where there is a huge potential for pivoting – hiring a tech team outright is a costly and may be unnecessary. Outsourcing your tech team gives you speed and flexibility should there be any major change in the future.
Manage the transition well
Say you have started growing or have gotten funded. Now it’s a good time to build your own internal tech team for two reasons: first is that your product has been validated (either by growth in customer or confidence of investor), and the second is that you now funding to build an internal tech team to further your development. If you have been outsourcing all your tech development needs, there are two ways that you can transition to an internal team, according to Ray.
- Work with your outsourced team – by working with your outsourced team, you not only ensure proper and complete transferral of technology and support for your young internal tech team as they immerse themselves into the development of your product, you also leave the door open for future projects should the need arise.
- Burn the bridge and rebuild everything – by rebuilding everything, you have a clean slate in which your new team can begin building their own dynamic and culture, as well as the advantage of having fresh eyes to look at your product and see new opportunities.
Hire a team lead that you trust
Unless you are the tech team lead or have a strong tech background, chances are you will be looking for someone to lead your internal tech team. Choose someone you trust to make decisions and empower that person to dictate the operations of the team – from hiring to training to monitoring the performance of the team members.
Your tech team lead should be someone who has both the ability to develop the product and the team, and more importantly, someone that you listen to and believe to be capable of the task.
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Look at talent
It may be a good idea to hire people who have already been in the business for some time – experience does give people certain advantages – but do not be so focussed on getting people who know the ropes of the business or industry that you ignore the less experienced but talented ones.
Talent matters more than experience.
-Ray Refundo, Qwikwire
Remember that experience, while valuable, is only advantageous when paired with talent. As a startup who is most likely still in the process of building your product and figuring out how it would scale, you need people who are able and willing to go through that process with you, whether experienced or not.
As a general rule, startups should build their own internal tech teams when they have grown, have been funded, or have a backlog of projects. And when they do, how the team is built and structured largely depends on what the startup needs at the stage that it is in.
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Featured image credit: rawpixel / 123RF Stock Photo
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