Lesson Slides from General Assembly class presented by GetViable on 20 March 2013 in Sydney, Australia.

1. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS
getviable.com
angel.co/getviable
Saturday, 23 March 13

2. INTRODUCTION 2
LESLIE BARRY
CEO
GetViable is a social collaboration platform that
helps entrepreneurs develop their ideas into viable
startups.
‣ Successful startup pedigree
‣ Professional Services & Outsourcing
expert
‣ Global Experience in offshoring services
and scaling business to $100M
‣ Passion to impact Entrepreneurship
globally
Saturday, 23 March 13

3. AGENDA 3
‣ Why Outsource?
‣ What can I Outsource to grow my Startup?
‣ Finding the right partners
‣ Managing the offshore Team to great results
‣ What happens after delivery? Support Options
‣ Resources and Tools
‣ Q and A
Saturday, 23 March 13

4. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 4
OUTSOURCING
DEFINED
Saturday, 23 March 13

5. OUTSOURCING DEFINED 5
Outsourcing is “highly-skilled Services
Augmentation”
Call Centers Contests Crowdfunding
Telcos Predefined Price for Pre-orders for your
Low Skilled multiple options. startup product
High Volume
Low Quality
Crowd- Freelancing Offshoring
sourcing Defined Skill Defined Scope
Hourly Rate Fixed Price
Offshore Project Based
Contest model
Short-term Skill Offshore
Creates Options
Augmentation Team Based
Ranges from Data
Entry to Coding
Saturday, 23 March 13

6. OUTSOURCING DEFINED 6
Outsourcing Myths
offshore = low skill level Unmotivated
offshore = abuse Low price = low quality
Only India / Russia Annoying after hours calls
Outsource needs high overhead Telco Call center
Low skilled labour Loss of IP
25 years ago, IT outsourcing didn't exist, it is now a +$100Bn industry (Source: Information Services Group; TPI)
Saturday, 23 March 13

7. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 7
STARTUP
OUTSOURCE
OPPORTUNITIES
Saturday, 23 March 13

8. OUTSOURCING DEFINED 8
Reduce
Why Outsource? time to
market
Menial
Tasks
Startup
High Quality,
Scale Fast Focus "A startup is an affordable
organization formed skills
to search for a
Test
repeatable and Ideas
scalable business
model."
Reduce Steve Blank Access
Flexibility Costs Talent and
Ideas
• Ask yourself “what skill is not core to my startup?” - eg; data capture, mailing leads
• Commodity or Talent?
• Be specific.
Saturday, 23 March 13

9. STARTUP OPPORTUNITIES 9
WHAT TO OUTSOURCE?
Stage Outsource Crowdsource Freelance
Clarify Idea Naming, Funding
SEO Setup, Landing Page Setup,
Identify Customers Mailchimp Setup, Copy for launch Page
& Validate
Logo Design, User Interface
Design Wireframe Design
Design
Functional Specifications, Build Website,
Build Build Mobile App Data Capture, Project Management
Monthly Support, Dedicated Development
Scale
Team
Helpme.name, Kickstarter,
Providers Elance, ODesk, Freelancer 99Designs, DesignCrowd, Elance, ODesk, Freelancer
Crowdspring
Saturday, 23 March 13

10. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 10
PARTNER
SELECTION
Saturday, 23 March 13

11. PARTNER SELECTION 11
HIRING
• Filtering question is gold!
• Aim for the best people or team.
• Choose wisely - interview with the same diligence as you would a
local.
• Research your pricing - oDesk, eLance, Freelancer, etc
• Test them with a small, sample task.
• Test with a low impact “work package”
• Start with hourly, move to Fixed.
Saturday, 23 March 13

12. PARTNER SELECTION 12
SCREENING
•Post your job ad and ensure the last line of the ad says that applicants should
use the word XXX as their first word in their response. This weeds out generic
responses. Delete ALL responses without this word without reading them.
•Put the ad up for 5 days and specify that applicants must have at least the
highest level English. 4.5+
•Ignore how much applicants cost and look only at the last two reviews for their
star rating.
•Set up a Google Docs spreadsheet so that you can share information easily.
•Ask them to take a test relating to your project to check quality, accuracy,
language use, etc. . Example: capture 10 results from a targeted website into
Google Docs.
Saturday, 23 March 13

13. PARTNER SELECTION 13
SCREENING
•Review these for accuracy.
•Decline the applicants who do not meet your criteria.
•If paying hourly, discuss what output or deliverables you can expect per hour
so your expectations are aligned.
•Pick some responses and test this. See how accurate and fast they are (there
may be a trade-off).
•Only give the shortlist your Skype details at this point as otherwise Skype will
become flooded with connection requests that are hard to shake and an
unnecessary overhead.
•It is best to work 1:1, as you can build a relationship with the freelancer. Check
that the person you interview is the person that is actually delivering the
work.
•Hire them.
Saturday, 23 March 13

14. PARTNER SELECTION 14
Saturday, 23 March 13

15. FINDING TALENT 15
ELANCE
SUMMARY KEY REQUIREMENTS
In our experience, eLance is a great platform to manage fixed Trusted ratings
price project work. Costs + Fee
Escrow
Payment gateways in multiple
countries
Milestone Management
Contract Terms
File Management
Collaboration
Dispute Resolution
Portfolio View
Saturday, 23 March 13

16. FINDING TALENT 16
ODESK
SUMMARY KEY REQUIREMENTS
In our experience, oDesk strength lies with hiring skilled staff Trusted ratings
augmentation. Their tools and workflow are more suited Costs + Fee
towards resource management.
Escrow
Payment gateways in multiple
countries
Work View - watch the work
Contract Terms
File Management
Collaboration
Dispute Resolution
Portfolio View
Saturday, 23 March 13

17. CASE STUDY 17
ELANCE WALKTHRU
SUMMARY KEY REQUIREMENTS
Saturday, 23 March 13

18. CONTRACT OPTIONS 18
Focus on OUTCOMES, with milestone payments
based on demonstrated deliverables
Hourly Weekly Per Feature
Good: Good: Good:
Cheap, Flexible Cheap, Flexible Fixed price, clear
outcomes
Bad: Bad: Bad:
High Management,
Low commitment Low commitment Debating
Fixed Price Monthly Fixed Hour
Support Support
Good: Good: Good:
Team, Redundancy Team, Flexible, Scale Team, Flexible, Scale
Bad: Bad: Bad:
Management, Trust Use it or lose it Use it or lose it
Saturday, 23 March 13

19. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 19
MANAGING THE
TEAM
Saturday, 23 March 13

20. GETTING GREAT RESULTS 20
MANAGING THE TEAM
• Manage them as part of your team. Same courtesy, respect,
patience, diligence, guidance.
• Structure smart milestones based on outcomes. 15%, ........, 30%
• Build a relationship. They are not ‘resources’
• Keep the communication flowing. Regular, scheduled.
• Fire fast. Cut your losses and move on.
Saturday, 23 March 13

21. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 21
GETTING RESULTS
Saturday, 23 March 13

22. GETTING RESULTS 22
CLEAR REQUIREMENTS
•Define User Stories
•Discuss and agree
•Weekly deliverables
•Confirm against user stories
•Test
Saturday, 23 March 13

23. GETTING RESULTS 23
ESSENTIAL TOOLS
Saturday, 23 March 13

24. GETTING RESULTS 24
NOW WHAT?
•Hourly rate - ad hoc, availability risk
•Weekly rate - risk of losing provider
•Fixed block of hours for team - has redundancy, reliable
•Full offshore team - committed, requires overhead from you
•Offshore employees
Saturday, 23 March 13

25. GETTING RESULTS 25
RESOURCES & TOOLS
•Read: Eric Ries, The Lean Startup
•GetViable.com - Idea to Minimum Viable Product
•StartupPlays - Startup Video Guides
•eLance - Outsource Marketplace for Skilled Resources
•oDesk - Outsource Marketplace for Skilled Resources
•Freelancer.com - Outsource Marketplace for Skilled Resources
•TeamworkPM, GitHub, PivotalTracker
Saturday, 23 March 13

26. OUTSOURCING FOR STARTUPS 26
Q&A
Saturday, 23 March 13

27. Contact
Leslie Barry, Founder, CEO Dougal Edwards, Founder, COO
www.getviable.com
angel.co/getviable
team@getviable.com @getviable
Saturday, 23 March 13