When creating a tech startup, one of the most critical yet difficult parts is finding a development team that not only has the skills to construct a company’s vision but one that will nurture a relationship built on trust through constructive conversations instead of arguments. This can be particularly difficult for first time entrepreneurs who do not have a technical background, during a time when so much is riding on making the right decisions in order to achieve a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) with as few hiccups in the plan as possible.
Here are the 8 key lessons that Jenna Fernandes, CEO of CareBooker.com, learned along the way:
- Research: Be able to speak enough “programmer” to know exactly what type of people or development team is needed. At the very least, know the differences between PHP, Ruby, Python, JAVA, HTML, CSS, iOS, and other programming languages as well as what a code repository is and what database options are available – Stackoverflow is a great place to start learning. BuiltWith is a technology look-up site that shows what familiar websites were built with, while Udemy and General Assembly offer great intro to programming classes. Attend tech meet-ups to gain exposure to the community and aim to speak with at least 10 different people, then log feedback in a Google Doc or an Excel sheet to track commonalities and help make the most informed decisions.
- Search: Start looking for a team that will fit the company’s individual needs. It is important to consider factors like whether a development shop or an individual is best, how many people need to be working on the project, whether they can be located locally or internationally, and if they will be paid or working for equity in the company. Posting the job on Stackoverflow, LinkedIn, and college alumni job sites can be helpful in finding individuals. For most jobs it is necessary to hire both a programmer and designer, programmers take care of how the site functions and designers work on how the site looks and it is unlikely to find a programmer/designer hybrid.
- Express: Make sure to have a clear understanding of what this project will be for developers. Create a document that includes the “Elevator Pitch” as well as all the key bullet points that will help get them organized and give them a pulse of what to build. After everything is written out, build a “wireframe” of an ideal site using PowerPoint or Google Docs to create a cursory look and feel for the platform. The depth of logic and functionality of this information will help the programmer get a sense of how much work the site will be and in turn how much money and time they feel the project will cost.
- Timeline + 10%: Programmers and designers are notorious for not generating accurate project estimates, so the rule of thumb is to take whatever they present and add 10%. Be sure that the company has enough time and money budgeted to cover the buffer and guarantee that the project finishes without a hitch.
- Organize: In working with a programmer and designer, organization of all the different components is key. Make sure that everything is clear, concise, assigned, and universally shared. Organizational openness and consistency are vital to a healthy experience when building a complicated web platform. Some collaboration tools are Dropbox, Google Drive, Assembla, and InVision.
- Prioritize: When developing a web platform, organization goes hand-in-hand with prioritization. Once all the To-Do items are in place, the team can talk and review each item by setting up a rating system to indicate what is most important—everything needs to be looked at from the lens of all the major stakeholders. After prioritizing, teams can start two week sprint planning, whittling away at the priorities from the top down to help get a snapshot of what to expect in the near future.
- Let Go: For truly technical questions, let the tech team take the lead and give their recommendations. They were hired for their expertise so give them a chance to prove that they are an asset to the company and take their recommendations.
- Consistency: Do not allow days or weeks to go by without speaking to the development team. Daily contact is imperative in making sure that the site is built to the company’s specifications, a call or Skype chat helps facilitate a feeling of openness in communication and foster a better working environment. Enforce a policy where the team can reach out anytime they need to, day or night, nobody should ever feel like they are imposing.
Jenna Fernandes Bio
CEO, CareBooker.com
Jenna Fernandes is the CEO of CareBooker.com, the “OpenTable” for booking in-home family care services such as babysitting, pet care, tutoring and more. In 2013, Jenna was named as a top 10 female tech founder by Women 2.0 and CareBooker was ranked as one of the top “tech companies to watch.”
Jenna has brought together an all-star team and a strong group of advisors and investors including the Co-founder of About.com, Founding Shareholder of Expedia, Founding Head of Sales at Hotwire.com, Founder/Chairman of Tutor.com, as well as CT Innovations (CT’s Venture Fund).
Prior to founding CareBooker, Jenna and her team founded the first online booking and payment platform for pet care services. Jenna first became a CEO at age 19 while at Tufts University where she ran Tufts Student Resources (TSR), one of the largest student run businesses in the U.S.
In her free time, Jenna enjoys spending time with her husband and her two dogs—a Min Pin named Scooby and Great Dane named Casper—and enjoys playing golf, tennis and chess.
ABOUT CAREBOOKER.COM
CareBooker.com is the “Open Table” of family care services. The site offers families an easy way to find, book and pay for child care, pet care, tutoring, and more. CareBooker has a rapidly growing user base of services providers that can be booked around their real-time schedules and profiles that include services, prices, background checks, qualifications, and certified reviews. For more information, please visit www.CareBooker.com