How to Hire a Development Team for Your Startup

Tip 1: Hire an Agency Like You'd Hire a Senior Employee

First and foremost, when you hire an IT agency, you're not befriending, dating, or partnering with someone — you hire an IT agency almost the same way you'd hire a seasoned, badass addition to your department: someone who won't just do daily tasks manually, but will put processes into the work, keep you informed, and most importantly, drive results. Sure, there's a difference between hiring an employee and hiring an agency, but it's essentially the same idea.

Tip 2: Always Have Multiple Candidates — and Interview Their Clients

Remember, having only one option — one contractor — isn't really a choice. Even if someone highly recommends a contractor, always explore alternatives to get a well-rounded view for your project. This approach not only safeguards your interests but also helps you manage your project more effectively in the future.

Once you have two, three, or maybe even five candidate agencies on your shortlist, start interviewing their clients. It may seem straightforward, but it's surprising how often this step gets overlooked. Reviews and promo materials may just reflect an agency's marketing skills rather than its actual performance. You don't have to call all their clients from the last five years, but at least have a few chats or exchange messages/emails where you can ask open questions of their current clients — and ideally clients who worked with the specific manager who'll be working with you on your project. It's definitely worth it.

Here are three important questions you could ask:

• How did they handle a difficult or conflict situation?
• What did they do best?
• Why would you continue working with them — or why wouldn't you?

Tip 3: Evaluate the Work Process on an Ongoing Basis

Understand that the work process should be evaluated continuously. As with any business, if you don't know what's going on, what's been done in the last two weeks, or whether you're moving according to plan — most likely you ARE moving, just not according to plan. I'm not talking about micromanagement, but having an adequate understanding of what the money is being spent on and where the workload is shifting is really important.

Figuring out what works and how to get there will help you. Discuss all the important points with the agencies you're considering — be open, and expect the same from them. Engage them in the work process as early as possible — not because you want free work, but because you want to understand who you'll be working with. This could involve technical specification questions, project process questions, integration questions — there's a lot to cover.

Figure out what kind of collaboration will work best for you and what kind of process will best achieve results: which responsibilities are yours, which go to the outsourcer, how support will be provided, how you'll see progress (maybe the manager updates you daily, maybe every two weeks, maybe you'll see it in their software). It's really important to make this clear at the beginning, so that during the process you can trust the agency to handle development while you focus on sales and marketing.

Finding the Right Fit

The goal isn't to find a "perfect" agency, but the one that fits your needs best — like a puzzle piece that matches you better than any other. There's rarely a complete answer, but there's no mystery in making the choice either. Rely on common sense and the recommendations above, and you'll find your way.

If you still have questions, feel free to reach out — we'll take apart your idea, highlight opportunities and pitfalls, and give you recommendations on product development.