There are unlimited exceptions to every rule.

And interestingly, the big winners are always the exception of course!

I agree that it is usually better to have tech in house, as most functions. What I say is that, if for any reason you need to outsource, tech is no different than sales or marketing for this purpose except in a few companies. It won’t work as having them inside, but it can be done. Anyway, I guess that we should define ‘tech’, it is usually so interweaved everywhere that I’m not sure it can be considered an area of the company, what would make my rumbles pointless 🙂

Perfectly stated.

Unless tech is completely secondary to the business – like payroll, which you outsource because it is always exactly the same process with no competitive advantage – you will need technical chops in house. Even if you outsource development/engineering, and infrastructure, and operations, etc., you still need enough knowledge to manage them.

I have always negatively viewed tech-driven startups without a technical co-founder.. but the same for any startup without a marketing (strategic, not advertising) co-founder.

I’m not an absolutist. We all outsource some parts of our business.

Not having technical chops in house is always a mistake in my experience even if you outsource pieces of it.

There are really few tech companies but we all use tech of course. The idea of the cutting line as being where the competitive advantage lies doesn’t work for me in almost all cases though.

Give me an example of the retail site that is not data driven even if the touch point to the market is a smart UX.

Tech is a tool. You will never stop needing it. Decide whether you want to continually pay for it out of pocket or become part of your resources.

If the tech part is the core innovation of the business, I agree you shouldn’t outsource. But many companies that call themselves tech companies are in reality media/retail/you-name-it companies that use tech. For those companies I see no reason to cross outsourcing tech as an option. As for any other function that is not the company’s competitive advantage.

Understand and indeed after building a store on Shopify, learning a bit of Liquid, and not having to build the transactional piece, I’m with you.

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I am not suggesting for a second that one use a “canned solution” but rather that one hire a small boutique firm which specializes in crafting similar websites in the same industry.

Once you begin to delve into the details, the components are pretty damn similar. Price begins to devolve to $50-100K and 2-3 months.

This is not the Obamacare website, mind you.

I have stumbled on a number of such good firms in Austin and NYC. Seen their finished product. Checked their references.

If one were really adventurous — I am not — you could use a firm in the Ukraine or India to do the work.

Not for everyone but food for thought nonetheless.

BRC
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I don’t know.

Take blogs or canned solutions like Shopify off the table. With those I agree with you that buying it out smart is just fine.

But it’s hard to image any solution you can craft that doesn’t involve hacking stuff together and developing some tech that adds value, even at a data matching level.

I’ve done this with me as the architect. . Not certain I’ll do it again except on the most boilerplate of solutions.

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Just like any other contractor. Make part of the payment contingent upon getting it done on time and hold back 10% to correct errors.

Buying is a skill.

BRC
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