[Don_Wallace]

It seems that lowering the cost of software development as a key driver of startup success is being emphasized.

A few things:

One could argue that if the business case for the startup were strong enough, the cost of development would be almost (within a very wide band) irrelevant or at least you could more easily justify the expense. An example would be having already-signed-up beta users and having a mailing list of interested prospects in hand.

Secondly, does anyone not care about new versions, maintenance and ongoing support? If you are truly operating a business, then having the ability to support the product is key. An outsourcer can leave the business or the team can disband, so you have no control over the institutional knowledge. (The "outsourcing core competencies" issue.)

Last, the title "outsourcing startups" seems a bit misleading, almost as though an entire startup can be outsourced like a commodity. We're still talking about outsourcing the coding.

But maybe the commoditizing of startups is the next natural step in evolution, if it is not happening already.