How do I successfully outsource my MVP?

[Galagonya]

I have an idea, but no coding skills therefore I want to outsource the development of my MVP.

Does anyone here have experience with that? If so, - How was it? - Which site did you use? Is fiver any good for something like this? - How do you protect your idea from being stolen?

Thanks

[dangerface]

I have experience developing MVPs for clients, theres a few ways of going about it I think the best is to go to a few local agency and talk to them about your idea and needs. They won't really want to steal your idea because they already got their own money making idea and its currently making them money.

Its going to cost a lot more than a fiver like $25k minimum for something you could potentialy trial in front of customers / investors. Upwork is fine for finding a developer but you need to make sure its some one who has a range of skills to essentialy be able to lead the project and understand you when you are communicating your idea, ie don't just go for the cheapest.

You can learn programing yourself its easy enough but it will take a few year or two for you to be good enough to build an mvp a few more years to be able to grow your technical understanding enough to lead a larger project or organise a team of developers etc, you are investing a lot of time into a skill that won't really help the business side of the business.

You won't impress a technical found by trying to do his job, do your part of the job plan out how you intent to implement and communicate your idea. Design a prototype of your idea draw it out on paper how it works. Whats the problem? How to solve it? Who will pay for the solution? How to market and sale to these people? How many are there? How are we going to finance this?

The more evidence you can provide that this is a real idea and not just wishful thinking the more time a developer will commit to your idea.

Ideas are worthless some one who can figure out the idea and communicate it effectively is worth something you need to prove you can do that, also setup a ltd business its like $100 and gives you a legal fallback.

[mpc75]

To successfully outsource your MVP on a budget you need to do five things:

1. Talk to ten users who aren’t your mom and understand if this is a problem that needs solving. It’s ok that this takes time to find these people and get them to agree to chat with you, it’s worth it and will save you a lot of money because you’ll know the first feature you need in the mvp and some marketing that might resonate for your landing page collecting emails.

2. Create the mock-ups of what you think the software should look like.

3. Hire three talented designers on Fiverr to take a single screen and design it. Then hire the best person and have them create the rest of the designs - go mobile first.

4. Hire three developers on Fiverr to develop one tiny part. Choose the best developer (most responsive best end product, etc) and get the to develop the mvp.

5. Stick it in front of people and see what they do with it via analytics, more user interviews, usability testing.

This does not have to cost $25k, it will cost a lot of time, good judgement, a very high level of skepticism, and a lot of reading.

[Galagonya]

By single screen do you mean creating a snapshot of what the product should look like?

[muzani]

Does anyone here have experience with that? How was it?

> MVPs are my specialization, both full time and freelance. However, besides my own startup, most MVPs become a death march and few survive marketing.

Which site did you use? Is fiver any good for something like this?

> Fiverr is terrible for this. Upwork is okay, if you have experience with project development and management. I would recommend something like Toptal.

How do you protect your idea from being stolen?

> You'll have to sign some kind of agreement that the created product is yours. Consult a lawyer. Copyright covers code and is nearly free. Patents are more work, more cost, but should protect the idea. Generally, it's not worth protecting if you have an advantage.

Outsourcing is something you do when you have a lot of money and want to convert that into code. Like a hundred thousand dollars lying around and no idea where to put it.

Your product will cost you more than you expect and be much longer. One hint of a startup being doomed is when they have profile pics or Facebook login where it's unnecessary. There's a substantial cost to front end, back end, hosting, maintenance. You want to brutally cut out all unnecessary features. Assume that every button will cost you $50-$200. Rounding the images will cost you $50-$200. When you do something, there's the design, development, testing, iteration, project management cost.

[InterMilan]

I'm in the same boat and did a lot of research and concluded the following:

1- Having an MVP built by a 3rd party will cost a lot of money. Hiring a contractor will also cost a lot. I would advise against hiring from fiverr/upwork, unless you want some minor work to be done or already know how a software is developped inside out. You can then cut the project in smaller chunks and tasks and seek someone to develop it for you.

2- Thinking that once you have your MVP you will be off the hook and can go try sell the product, get traction and some sales, and finally re-invest everything back in the buisiness will NOT work. You will need a developper/company on your side all the time, all the way trough your venture.

3- I was thinking of investing around $1k per month to get an MVP done, but this wouldn't have been good on a long run anyway.

4- I came to the conclusion, that it would be faster/easier just to learn programming from scratch instead. There are a lot of free resources out there. It takes time and persistence, but you will get there. This will save you long term, and even if your MVP fails, you would have learned programming and you can you that for another venture or get a job.

Hope this helps.

[Galagonya]

I was thinking about developing a really basic version of my product. I think having something tangible makes it easier to convince a good technical co-founder to join or to even get an investment.

I dont think that learning programming would be the most efficient way to spend my time. By the time I would get to the level I could create my application, the wave will have already passed. Furthermore, not everyone needs to know how to code, everyone should focus on what they're good at. I am good with sales, marketing, finance, and building websites. This of course puts me in a disadvantageous position when wanting to launch a startup.

[klimkovalenko]

You can use no-code tools for developing a really basic version of your product. (Bubble, Webflow, etc). Once you'll have something to show - you can pitch the idea to the potential tech co-founder. You can find them on relevant cofounder subreddit, IH (Looking to Partner Up), etc.

[verdverm]

You should build a mock-up and then get some presales. I've seen this work for non-technical leaders. You can then hire devs / find a CTO.

Mock-up can be slides, figma, a website. Something fantastically cheap to communicate the value prop.

[avenger123]

Others have put forward great recommendations.

I would like to add a word of caution. Please spend as much time as you can understanding the complexity of your MVP and try to map that to what it should cost to build. Without having a good estimate of how much it should cost you will either spend too little and get extremely sub par results, or spend way more than you should have (more likely scenario) and get barely usable MVP. It's easy for dishonest parties to take advantage of your lack of knowledge and quote you an extremely high figure for what you want to do.

So my recommendation is to find someone with the right technical background that ideally has done many projects that may be similar to your MVP and that can put together for your an overall high level design and give you estimates on how much it would cost to build it based on hours and even tech stack used. They don't have to do the work but it should guide you on your next steps.

[speedgoose]

> How do you protect your idea from being stolen?

Ideas are cheap, execution matters a lot. If it's a good idea it will for sure be copied.

[alanbr]

You need to hire a team that can understand your vision and combine it with its technical expertise in order to create a successful product. It is hard to find that on Fiverr. Signing a Non Disclosure Agreement is usually a standard practice and will help you protect your idea.

Full disclosure: I own a software development agency that focuses on start-ups, so we can help with validation, and product discovery apart from development. If interested you can check us out at: https://lightit.io

[klimkovalenko]

How do you usually validate ideas?

[alanbr]

There are several techniques but they all involve validating with potential users. A good approach is creating a realistic prototype of what your are trying to build, show it to users and see how they feel about it. Then use that experience and the gathered insights to improve your prototype until it's solid enough to be confident about building it. This post we wrote can help: https://lightit.io/blog/i-have-an-app-idea-what-should-i-do-...

[eloff]

If it's possible for your project, use a non-code / low-code solution and build it yourself as much as possible. When you encounter features you cannot do, contract them out to developers on a per-feature basis.

This should let you keep costs under control, while also allowing a non-programmer to figure out which features require programming and which don't, but more importantly - break them up into the smallest features you can which decreases the risk and cost of developing it.

Try a few contractors by posting the features independently, and once you find a really good contractor, use him/her for everything else directly and without a middle-man.

[alexmingoia]

I’d be happy to help you outsource your MVP. Shoot me an email, it’s in my profile. I’ve built MVPs, managed outsourcing, and lead the technology at multiple startups.

There are different paths you can take depending on what you want to build. Freelance marketplaces like Fiverr are a good fit only for certain types of projects.

[ReachOS]

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Ri1yg-HCI&t=4s

[prakhar897]

Hey, I'm a developer working in a startup. I can help you determine the right cost for your product. Reach out to me if you're interested. My email is in my profile.

[factorialboy]

Don't hire a large team. You probably need one or two (max three) skilled people.

Helps if you have a budget to pay for quality talent.

Get NDAs signed. Make contracts. Limit risk.