Here at C-leveled, we say that we work with a lot of technology businesses. But thinking through that statement a level deeper, that’s not quite accurate.
It would be more descriptive to say here at C-leveled, we work with a lot of technology-enabled businesses. To be sure, our deep tech clients are constituted exactly as you’d guess — top tier engineering and product development teams, IP portfolios, technical founders, AI and the like. But that customer population is smaller than the companies we’re serving that are producing tech-enabled products and services. This customer mix isn’t selection bias. It’s a commentary on how businesses are now being built.
Entrepreneurs are resilient. As the availability of experienced, top-tier technical talent continues to shrink (and it is shrinking), entrepreneurs are looking elsewhere for those resources; hence, the range of third party developers that are now serving as a company’s product development team, ranging across the entire software stack. If your tech-enabled business grows, you’ll inevitably internalize technical staff. We’re big fans of hiring a small core technology team, a team that contributes directly and that can interact with and manage an outsourced product development team.
The availability of outsourced technology capabilities is yet another barrier between you and your new businesses that has crumbled. The risks associated with implementing a tech-enabled product or service are essentially the same as before. Product specifications, schedules, testing, documentation and other basic practices of product design and development still apply. Also, bootstrapping to an initial product release and that first customer is as hard, and as necessary as it’s ever been. However, not having a technical co-founder should not stop your from proceeding.
“As the availability of experienced, top-tier technical talent continues to shrink (and it is shrinking), entrepreneurs are looking elsewhere for those resources.”
There is a lot of evidence that not having an internal technology team at the onset is now acceptable. Perhaps the most compelling is that investors, at every level, will make bets on these companies, provided they can see product market fit, adoption, initial traction and other early indicators of potential success and a path to a return on their investment.
If you have an idea for a tech-enabled business, there is a ton that you can do without spending a nickel. The level of introspection and the amount of research will cost you your time, but if that is a challenge for you, just bag the idea and go to your job tomorrow. If you are committed to your idea, do what you can do before even thinking about spending the money to develop even an MVP:
There is one significant trap to avoid if you take this approach to business formation. It’s easy to become very product-or service-centric in your thinking. Thinking backwards from the marketplace need that you have identified, the market segments where that need is most acute and the customer discovery that you conduct will result in the product specification writing itself. Then, you can turn outside and identify the very best development partner for your market-driven product or service. You are on your way.
Look, deciding to start your business in 2018 is a big decision, and it’s easy to equate a lack of startup capital to an assured failure. But why not give your idea a rigorous thinking-through. You never know what you’ll learn, and many times, this brick-by-brick approach to crystallizing your thinking will reveal a path or paths that weren’t obvious at the onset.