Why Every Startup Needs a Technical Lead
Many startups fail because their founders lack technical expertise. They outsource their projects to unqualified freelancers, start with wrong technologies, don’t think about any optimization, keep customer credit card data in their databases unencrypted, and do other things leading their products to a halt.
Although it may look like it’s enough to find an excellent team of developers that will take care of the idea implementation, in real life, there are many pitfalls.
The Right Development Team
One of the main obstacles is that without technical expertise, it’s impossible to assess how good the selected development team is.
Startup founders have to choose service providers based on soft skills of sales representatives, the attractiveness of marketing campaigns, UI quality of previously completed projects, reviews on the Internet, certifications, and other open sources of information. Those items are valid, but they don’t guaranty that particular developers who will join the project are qualified enough.
Some developers may sound very convincing for a non-technical person, but make no sense for someone who understands the topic well. An expert technical lead has to assess the proficiency of the developers to make sure they are the right people to do the job.
Technology Stack
You could hear NodeJS was trending, and you are sure your project should be on NodeJS. It’s a typical situation. However, there are many popular technologies these days and saying some are good while some others are bad wouldn’t be right. There are pros and cons in each, and choosing the right stack can become a complicated task even for an experienced professional.
Developers like to suggest the technologies they are most comfortable with. Indeed when deciding between a few similar alternatives, it may be best to go with those you know well. But it’s still necessary to be sure they fit the project requirements. E.g., depending on whether a website must handle a lot of concurrent connections, or perform complex calculations, it may need different technology stacks and architecture.
Code Quality
Code quality is an abstract concept for many startup founders. “If it works, it’s not that bad”, — they think often. However, high-quality code is crucial. It works better; it’s more stable and maintainable; it can be reused easily in the future; it guarantees a short learning curve for new developers joining the team. This list can continue, as there many apparent benefits. At the same time, low-quality code can cause severe problems and doesn’t last.
UI Testing is Not Enough
Many believe they can test what is delivered by their contractors on their own. In reality, testing UI/UX is a rather small part of what must be tested. For instance, in the case of a web-based application, it’s vital to make sure it is secure and can handle high load. Of course, an outside QA team can handle testing, but it may be hard to be on the same page with them to understand what they are doing and manage their interaction with the developers.
Managing Finances
Without understanding the technology, it’s impossible to know how much the development may cost. When a company works this way, it’s hard to control finances. When non-technical management receives a quote, it’s always a challenge for them to understand how fare it is and what it includes.
Intellectual Property Protection & Copyright Infringement
Being able to control the code is important for intellectual property protection and preventing copyright infringement.
For instance, primarily when a startup outsources development to an overseas team, it happens developers reuse programming code from their old projects for new projects, embed unlicensed third-party plugins, etc. Thus every startup can either lose some of its code or get somebody’s code illegally. Even if there is an intellectual property agreement, it would be nearly impossible to enforce it.
Summary
For every startup founder, it’s crucial to find an experienced technical lead who would believe in the startup’s idea and would manage the project at least until a minimum viable version is released. This person should make critical technical decisions and control all aspects of the development process. This person should be someone the founder knows well; someone who is ready to stay with the company for a long time. Relying on temporary contractors is a risky approach.
Originally published in Trackabi Blog
