Dexter Zhuang’s Post

Raised more than planned? Great! But splurging it all? Not so smart. Keep your funding safe—here's why: - Raising capital is crucial, but overspending can sink your ship before it sets sail. - Rather than burning through cash on a large in-house dev team, consider leaner alternatives like outsourcing or using freelancers. - Keeping funds in reserve allows for flexibility and agility as your business adapts to market demands. - Strategic spending ensures resources are allocated where they'll have the most impact, maximising ROI in the long run. So don't go hiring that 'Ex-Google' developer just yet. Keep it lean. Move fast but grow slow --------------------------------- If you are building or scaling a product and want to talk about your tech team, feel free to drop me a line. #pmf #scaling #startups #scaleups #mvp #userfeedback #funding

How to scale your tech team as your startup grows: You build this amazing product, your user base is exploding, but then...BAM! Deadlines are flying out the window. Your tech team is buried in work. Product quality starts to suffer.  The truth is, scaling your tech team is tricky. If you hire too early, you're burning cash on unused resources. Hire too late, and your customers get frustrated. So here are the signs that you need to scale: → Increased workload & missed deadlines → Declining product quality & customer satisfaction → Lack of talent to reach your goals But before you hire consider the following: → In-House or Outsource? Outsourcing gives you access to a wider talent pool for short-term needs, while in-house hires offer more control and stability. → Don't just focus on technical skills. Look for people who fit your company culture and can collaborate. → Prioritize communication Scaling can lead to communication breakdowns. Keep everyone on the same page, from your developers to your sales team. Scaling is an ongoing process. Track your team's progress with metrics like code maintainability and test cycle time. Don't be afraid to experiment and adjust your approach as you go! Feeling overwhelmed? If you need a hand finding top tech talent, ITSharkz can be your tech talent wingman. Shoot me a DM and we'll talk about what specific challenges you're facing scaling your tech team. #Startups #TechTalent #scalingteam #outsourcing

"As a Startup Founder, I am looking to hire the first 5 engineers for my startup. I've never done it before, and I don't have a tech background. Any tips??" - I was asked recently For context. This founder raised a nice Seed funding round recently, out of a well crafted business model, some early traction, and a clunky no-code MVP. He's ripe to build the next stage of his business, and has the funds to do it. He's "only" lacking the strategy, though. As a Startup CTO, I hired initial Software Engineers for 10+ startups. I'm usually conservative in hiring plans, and prefer starting with a small team and clear short term goals. This is my advice to non-technical Startup Founders, in 3 simple rules of thumb: 1. Always have a technical stakeholder at leadership level. If neither you (+your co-founders) aren't technical, please make sure you have a senior tech leader to help you. Either a full time CTO, or a Fractional CTO or a Tech Advisor. This will avoid you costly mistakes. 2. Don't hire for the sake of hiring. Hire the right people to implement clearly defined projects, as needed for those projects. Again, if you don't have such definition, please get someone to help you define it before you hire "operators". As explained in point 1. 3. Before growing from 0-5, consider growing from 0-2. The most common combo is a couple of senior backend/frontend engineers who can get the ball rolling. Then grow from there as needed. You'll be surprised how much faster impact you can get with this iterative approach. With AI coding tools, a small team can get a lot more done than before.

Navigating the Tech Talent Maze: What Startups Must Know Finding the right Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for your startup in the rapidly evolving tech landscape can feel like navigating a complex maze. With technology being the backbone of nearly every startup today, the choice of a CTO can make or break your business. But what should startups look for beyond technical expertise? Firstly, it’s about understanding that the role of a CTO goes far beyond just coding or software development. A fitting candidate is one who not only has a robust technical background but also possesses strong leadership skills and a visionary outlook. They should be capable of making strategic decisions that align with your business goals and culture. Remember, they will lead your tech team and shape your product's future. Moreover, cultural fit is paramount. The tech world might celebrate innovation and disruption, but these should not come at the cost of workplace harmony or shared values. Your ideal CTO should be someone who gels well with the team, can communicate complex ideas in simple terms to non-technical stakeholders, and embodies the ethos of your company. In conclusion, hiring the right CTO balances technical prowess and leadership qualities while ensuring they align with your company's culture. Review candidates thoroughly because this decision will deeply influence your startup’s trajectory. As you continue this journey, remember that selecting a leader is as much about their potential to inspire as their technical abilities. Choose wisely!

What's one of the fundamental differences between technical and non-technical startup founders when we start a project? 1. All Client's team is non-technical => we push to have a Discovery phase 2. Half of the Client's team is technical = we schedule a Discovery phase 3. All Client's team is technical = outstaffing, no discovery phase, no documentation, no refactoring, just moving forward Which group succeeds more? Equally. Who spends more on development? The second group (2). Who raises more money? 1 and 3 groups. The first (1) group has a wider investor funnel, and the third (3) group closes the bottom of the funnel better. Why not a second (2) group with 50/50? This type of team usually moves slower, but they have very steady uprising dynamics in revenue on a long track. What's the lesson? - if you outsource 100% - trust your vendor and don't micromanage - if you outsource partially - prepare yourself for a longer run (and allocate more cash) - if you simply need tech hands - learn to formulate tasks precisely and invest in architecture. That's our RedCat Devs's stats from more than 50 startups we had engagements with.

Funds are everything for all early-stage startups. Even if you have the initial capital for your startup, be careful spending money, especially when hiring a dedicated software development team. Be stringent in your selection process. Pick suitable candidates who will get the app to the market successfully. Choose a dedicated software development team with experience building apps related to your needs. You can find the right people and stay within your budget. Just follow the instructions described above. You can only briefly operate with a skeleton structure, even if you’re a good multitasker. You need to delegate issues to your dedicated software development team members, especially tasks related to software development. To do it, look for candidates that share your startup goals and values to build a dedicated software development team from the start instead of bringing people into the project at a later stage. Read more: https://buff.ly/4f57gV7 #digitalhealth #softwaredevelopment #dedicatedteam #teamdevelopment

Hiring a CTO for your startup, especially an on-demand CTO can transform your startup’s success. Here are some notable examples: Airbnb Nathan Blecharczyk hired as a CTO on demand, helped redesign Airbnb’s website, enhance user experience, and scale its tech infrastructure. His contributions supported Airbnb’s rapid growth and established an excellent, scalable platform for global users. Uber Thuan Pham was engaged as a fractional CTO to develop a more sophisticated app and manage Uber’s tech team. His leadership enabled successful global expansion, improved the app’s functionality, and ensured it could handle increasing user demand. This has made Uber a dominant player in the ride-sharing industry. GitHub Tom Preston-Werner provided on-demand CTO services to GitHub, focusing on improving platform performance and security. His leadership in implementing best practices for code management and collaboration helped GitHub become the leading platform for developers worldwide. This process ensured high-quality and secure code repositories. To know more, click the link below and read the whole blog. You'll get everything about CTO on demands, For sure! 👉 https://lnkd.in/difUc99f

I remember when I started out on this journey. Someone told me that when building any tech products you can assume its going to take twice the time and twice the money. Little did I know that despite careful selection and full contracting, I too would fall into the non technical founder trap and be duped into a poor provider who could not build the product, but still took the money. I was bailed out by Patrick Egan and his terrific team at Incentivus Solutions in #Dublin and #India and today had a great catch up with him at the DTS on what it takes to get it right when selecting and managing your outsourced tech team. A few take aways: - Do your due diligence when selecting the team to work with, what did they build before, who referred them, how do they communicate with you? - Carefully scope out the project and then break it down into milestones and deliverables, each with a clear time and budget - Have a credible, even fractional Product Manager to manage the minutiae. Kudos to Eleanor Manley! - Use a good agile tool such as Jira to manage it all - Make sure there is no slippage, and if there is make sure to address it immediately - As a non tech founder, be careful for what you wish for, the idea that less is more is real and a product with too many features is not necessarily a good product. Strip it back to the essentials to validate it. - Talk to your tech team, all the time. So lovely talking to you, Patrick! #TechTeam #Startup #TechStartup #Tech #App

Looking to assemble your tech team for your startup in 2024? Let's debate... The financial aspects hardly seem to match up with the demands of software development. In Europe, pre-seed investments typically hover around $200K, while hiring skilled software developers can set you back about $130K. Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? But here's the catch: Junior developers, while lighter on the wallet, might not possess the experience needed to spearhead your project effectively. They could compromise on quality and deadlines. Plus, you'll need at least one front-end and one back-end developer to get going. And let's not forget about marketing—those costs add up too! With all that in mind, your $200K investment might vanish faster than you think, well before you even hit the market. If you can't materialise a product with your initial investment, securing any further funding becomes an uphill battle. So, what's the solution? -> "Consider hiring overseas developers." Pick Aurora Solutions. We've aided numerous startups in building dedicated tech teams at prices that won't break the bank and yet get the quality job done. Operating out of Sweden, Australia, and Pakistan, we're poised to help you bring your brainchild to life—without draining your resources. So let it be custom software development, web application, mobile application or complex web development, we are just one click away! #EuropeStartups #AustraliaStartups #SwedenStartups #StartupFunding #ResourceAugmentation #AuroraSolutions