Should I Use a Dev Shop?

Founders without technical skills may understand a customer problem but be unable to build a solution. Seibel says some are advised to hire a dev shop, gain traction, and recruit a CTO later, though he has seen many founders struggle with this approach.

A dev shop project can take longer and cost more than founders expect: an initial budget of $15,000 to $30,000 may not be enough. Seibel says investors focused on tech startups may be reluctant to fund companies that outsource development unless they are already growing unusually quickly.

A later hire may disagree with how the outsourced product was built, so the team may need to rebuild it. Because an MVP often needs several rounds of iteration, founders can run out of time and money before they find a solution customers want.

Seibel says many early-stage investors care more about a team’s ability to build and improve a product than about its initial traction. A technical co-founder can typically release a product faster and make customer-driven changes at lower cost than a dev shop.

Recruiting a technical co-founder can feel difficult, but Seibel urges founders pursuing venture-scale tech companies to consider whether the time spent recruiting is worthwhile. He acknowledges that some companies succeed after buying an initial product from a dev shop, but says that is the exception in his experience.