I don't trust anyone. What is the best way to find a software development company?

Test them by giving small projects and when they stand good on your expected criteria than offer them main project.

You don't trust anyone, but I hope you'll trust me :)

As an experienced Software Engineer, my first piece of advice is to not outsource your product. An outside consultant's goals won't always be aligned with yours, plus what will you do when they're gone and you urgently need to make changes? The other thing is that you're giving your product to a part-time contractor/worker to build, and in general it isn't a great idea to let anyone part-time or not fully committed to touch the core business of your company.

I recommend finding a technical cofounder who can build this with you, or perhaps you could consider learning to code.

Relatable. If possible, I'd go with Bubble.io and simply DIY - or get someone who's local you trust to help. Outsourcing can be overrated. If someone is local, at least you know they exist, they speak your language, and you can contact them. Sure, it possibly more expensive, but so is getting scammed.

Simply put, you need someone you trust (who has technical skills) to validate the quality of their work and that they’re not bs’ing you with their timelines and proposals. The third-party perspective, whose incentives are not aligned with contract delivery, makes the difference.

Best way to find an outsourcing company is to talk to a lot of them, and then sign them up for a small project.

Like really small. Website refresh, app update etc.

See how you like working with them. Are they responsive? Are they helpful? Do they understand you?

Then increase your commitment with them.

What do you want to build? I would highly recommend building a basic version of it with a No Code tool like https://Bubble.io first to validate the idea first.

There are a few things to consider when looking for a software development company. The first is to make sure that the company is reputable and has a good track record. You can check out online reviews to get an idea of what other people have said about the company.

Another thing to consider is the size of the company. You want to make sure that the company is large enough to handle your project. If the company is too small, they may not have the resources to properly support your project.

Finally, you want to make sure that the company is willing to work with you to ensure that your project is a success. Make sure that you are clear about your expectations and that the company is willing to meet them.

Hi Larry! Not you alone. It's a common problem in the software outsourcing industry. I've been on the client side as well as worked at the agency over the past 6 years and have seen firsthand how challenging it is to find a software dev vendor you can trust.

That's why I'm building www.jobresponse.co - a concierge-like marketplace service to do just that - helping clients to find vendors they can trust.

There are some good answers in this thread, but overall your approach should be focused on the vendor assessment process. If you do it right, your project gets a higher success rate.

Here is a vendor assessment checklist: https://www.jobresponse.co/vendor-assessment-checklist-by-jobresponse

The note details how to approach the vendor assessment, what questions to ask, and how to read the red flags.

Feel free to request a free consultation - mail at jobresponse.co

Good luck!

MassLight invests capital and a dedicated team of developers in exchange for equity.

They’re based in Washington D.C. but can work with startups based in the US, Canada, and Europe. They have a wide range of experience working with startups from various industries and the track record to prove it. It's a great option for startups looking to grow that don't yet have all the resources they currently need to succeed.

If your pitch deck is ready, the quick apply is located here: https://masslight.com/upload-pitch-deck
If you don't have that ready, you can submit an application here: https://www.masslight.com/program-application

You can recruit or partner with someone by drawing up a contract. Going through an agency will cost you a lot of money, it would be better if you work with experienced devs.

Actually, for small start-ups, I'd strongly advisie against using an agency or development company.

They're expensive.

They're slow.

If they're not expensive, they're not good.

If they're fast, they're extra expensive.

Quality, Speed, Cost, it's a triangle. If you move one corner, the rest will follow, and eventually it'll pop.

Hi Larry, If you haven't done so already, try to validate the idea if you can do it without an actual minimum viable product.

1. Once you are clear on what you want to make, talk to some technical people (in general terms, if you don't want to share the actual idea) to see what comes up, what technologies pop out a lot. Pick a tech partner from among the tech people you've talked to.
2. Look for your dev team in tech markets, (e.g. guru, freelancer, toptal, etc), or find specialist dev companies.
   Like others suggest, try giving out small projects first, maybe a small subset of the work you're trying to make (your tech partner could help you with this), to see if you like how they work, and how they work with you.
3. If you have several teams that you like, ask them to make something that would help you decide if they understand and can deliver what you want. Your tech partner can review the code, give you comments to help you decide on the design and the tech stack of your actual product.

If you're a techie but don't want to code it yourself, then maybe just make a contest the dev teams to make, and judge for yourself based on the output.

Cheers,

Hi, larry i can help you with that. You can give your work to me. We can figure out the way which are suitable to both.

I may be biased because I myself am a freelancer but I would say, look for freelancers (especially since you are a small business as you pointed out) Companies will charge you way more just because, and, there is no guarantee of anything. Interview a few freelancers and just trust your gut feeling. Do you smell bs? run away. Found someone that cares about the outcome and gives you good recommendations/tips/suggestions? try him/her with a very small part of the app. Wish you the best.

Hey Larry, I am running a digital agency and I have spoken about this with clients too many times.. first and foremost you can start searching for IT companies on LinkedIn, Google, Twitter (wherever it is), after you have found couple of them make sure to ask them to send you past work.

It is important to see the past work they have done because based you will know what you are getting in return, then finally ask for estimation..

If you still have not found one - feel free to message me, we just developed an online saas platform for local startup.. https://common.mk/

Super helpful advice here. thanks for all the input.

I've had this problem as well. Recently I would share some info, roadmap features and expectations on a notion page. IF they agree to the terms and have experience, I consider them for a meeting. There's usually about 2-3 who email me a week or message on Linkedin.

1. Define the size/ scope of your project and size of the company you what to work with. These need to be matched well, giving something too big to a young small company has the risk of them not being able to deliver. Going to a mammoth company with a trivial task even if accepted you will be priced" well" and have low priority. Make sure you will not be their biggest client nor the smallest.

2. Define the market location you are looking for. Outsourcing too far and too cheap might end up being to expensive because of communication issues.Use geographic arbitrage but do not over use it ! Outsourcing in your home for most small companies will end up more expensive than anyone expected( please check the software industry standard for overbuget projects - you will be shocked it's like no other industry I have heard of)

3. Go to apollo.io or linkedin and find those companies, get quotes from more. see the portfolio.

4. CALL THE PREVIOUS CUSTOMERS SEE WHAT THE ISSUES . DO NOT TRUST AGENCIES WEBSITE

5. Call the previous customers of that company

6. Call the previous customers and make sure there is no conflict of interest

7. Did I mention that is good to not trust the portfolio section of a beautiful website, just because it's a beautiful website. Call the previous customers even if nobody does it.

I also do not trust or assume just test and verify.

Try, fail, learn for next round.

It's really really hard though to find the right ones.
Good talent is rare but so do good employers.

You just don't.

The way I see it, as an experienced software developer and past experience dealing with outsourcing companies, it was a one-way ticket to a disastrous outcome.

Your best bet is to find a partner (CTO) who you can trust and have some stakes in the business to work on the product.

Hi Larry - This is a big problem, you have to start small with the company and build on the relationship. Once you have found a genuine company then try building a long term relationship. Happy to help out with this

mehul at taliun.com

Mehul

Your concern is very genuine, every now and then we keep hearing about projects being stuck due to wrong development. It is egg and chicken story. Having said that if you be extra vigilant, chances are you will be able to find the correct one. Don't just go by deck or portfolio if it is now a know co. it could be all decked up. On a screen, share ask them to show the working executable codes of each project. Also be watchful as whts your requirement, if you are looking for AI /ML a co. experienced only in traditional languages won't say no just to gram it. But that will be a nightmare. Ask, check, and review no other way around.

It depends heavily on the project. Something complex and long-term? Requiring quite a bit of company-specific knowledge? It might be worth going through the process of hiring a full-time employee, and relying on traditional vetting methods.

If it's a reasonably-small or compartmentalized project, you'd realistically be fine hiring most well-rated freelancers on sites like Upwork. There's still a chance you'll get burned, though; word of mouth is king for a reason. When the person you hire is an unknown, you rely on external metrics of trust, and any metric will inevitably become gamified and exploited.

Being a software developer, I'd say to go with the ones that can give you a fixed project price, not an hourly rate. Also, hire an expert consultant to evaluate the one you pick for you (unless you have friends who can do it).

You don't trust agencies because... they would steal your idea?

If that's your worry, then don't worry, it'll never happen. Besides, ideas are absolutely worthless.

Actually, the better approach would be to just build your audience now. Take your time figuring out who will create your product. Start marketing early, and you'll be set up for success when you eventually do launch (because you will have early adopters).

I did this for my first business. I did some blogging and market research for about 10mo before it finally launched. It was profitable from Day 1 and eventually grew it to multi-millions in revenue per year before exiting.

Now I'm building GapScout and sticking to the proven formula... started marketing before anything else - already got a healthy email list and the software isn't ready yet.

Point is, don't stress over telling agencies your idea. Start building an audience and take your time finding an agency that can build it for you.

The best way is to talk to a lot and get a lot of quotes. Compare the value you get in each. Beware ones that seem like they NEED your business. They barely know you and they should be more concerned with the fit between you and them. Look up reviews. Some of the sections on these pages may be of help:

https://peachweb.com/note/web-development-process
https://peachweb.com/note/pricing-web-design

You have to check the g2 reviews of the companies. This is the best thing to check

there are thousands of companies that offer such kinds of services, but you need to see what your product is and which category is then, you need to search the top product of this industry on multiple software directories/reviews and other sites hope you may know well about them.

Then you can check who working behind the software/product in this way you will find the best company which are doing this kind of work!

But here is a poor thing: they will charge high compared to other new ones but in terms of quality they will best!

Happy to chat and give you an advice depending on what you want build (contacts in my profile)