fielding a tech team - getting what you want by knowing what you want

FIELDING A TECH TEAMJOE JACKSON / DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT SMASHING BOXES / NOLA

#NOEW2016 / @anything_joes

THIS TALK SHOULD ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

HOW DO I FIND AND HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE

FOR MY STARTUP?

HOW DO I RECOGNIZE WHAT I DON’T KNOW ABOUT MY BUSINESS?

HOW DO I ADAPT TO CHANGE?

MY QUALIFICATIONS

POOR QUALITY

SOFTWARE

A PATTERN WITH STARTUPS

1

IMPROPER SOLUTIONS /

TECH DOESN’T MATCH

BUSINESS PLAN

2

A NEED TO SPEND

A LOT ON REWORK

& REPAIR

3

BUSINESS GETS

PUT ON HOLD TO

FIX SOFTWARE

4

THIS IS WHY

THEY BOOTSTRAPPED

THEY RUSHED

THEY HIRED CHEAP

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WHAT DO YOU NEED?

YOU DON’T KNOW AND THAT’S OKAY

AGILEBUILD NARROWER AND BETTER

YOUR OPTIONS

HIRE IN-HOUSE

HIRE AN AGENCY

FIELDING YOUR OWN TECH TEAM

BIGGEST MISTAKE

1IT’S BETTER TO GET SOMEONE REALLY GOOD FOR LESS TIME.2

DON’T GO BARGAIN BASEMENT FOR YOUR TECH NEEDS.

CONSIDER CONSULTING

QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR

THEY’VE BUILT A PRODUCT

FROM THE GROUND UP BEFORE

THEY’VE MAINTAINED

A PRODUCT IN THE PAST

DEVELOPER MATURITY

CAN CLEARLY COMMUNICATE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS

UNDERSTAND TRADEOFFS FOR DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

AREN’T COWBOYS

HAVE REASONABLE BUSINESS IQ (YOU ARE HIRING A CTO)

HIRING AN AGENCY

A GOOD AGENCY

HAS YOUR BUSINESS GOALS FOREFRONT

CAN HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR BUSINESS

WILL BE PARTNERS

WILL HELP YOU FIELD AND TRAIN YOUR OWN TEAM

HAS A LOT OF EXPERIENCE BUILDING PRODUCTS

CAN CLEARLY

EXPLAIN HOW

THEY WORK

QUALITIES TO LOOK FOR

1

UNDERSTAND THE

VALUE OF YOUR

PRODUCT, THE MARKET

& DIFFERENTIATORS

2

HAVE A WIDE

VARIETY OF

SERVICES BEYOND

DEVELOPMENT

3

THEY

ARE LOCAL

4

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

TLDR

CAREFUL HIRING

UP FRONT CAN SAVE

YOU A LOT

AGENCIES AND

CONSULTANTS ARE A

VALUABLE RESOURCE

YOUR PRODUCT IS A

FIRST CLASS CITIZEN,

TREAT IT LIKE ONE

THANK YOUJOE JACKSON / DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT SMASHING BOXES / NOLA

#NOEW2016 / @anything_joes