The Outsourced Tech
Background: No technical co-founder; dev shop built the MVP
Founders can't evaluate quality. Don't truly own their codebase. Vendor relationship is transactional. No internal technical judgment or leadership.
The Pattern
You had a great idea and found a dev shop to build it. They delivered something. It works, sort of. And now you have a product. But you also have a problem: you don't really understand what you have.
The code is a black box. When you want changes, you send a request and wait. Estimates come back that seem high but you can't evaluate them. Is this a 2-week feature or a 2-day feature? You have no idea.
The dev shop has other clients. Your project isn't their priority. And even if they do good work, their incentive is billable hours, not your success.
Warning Signs
- Product is a black box. You couldn't explain the architecture to a new hire. Neither could the dev shop, probably.
- Iteration is slow and expensive. Every change requires a formal request, estimate, approval cycle.
- Can't pivot quickly. "That would require major refactoring." You're stuck with early decisions.
- No internal technical judgment. When they say it'll take 3 months, is that real? You can't tell.
- Vendor lock-in. Moving to another shop or in-house would be painful. They know it.
- Investors are concerned. "You don't have a technical co-founder?" This comes up in every pitch.
Why This Is Dangerous
For a tech company, not owning your technology is like a restaurant not owning its kitchen. You can't iterate quickly. You can't evaluate quality. You can't attract technical talent because there's no one for them to work with.
Investors see this as a red flag. It signals that the founding team can't attract a technical co-founder (why not?) and that execution will always be constrained by a vendor relationship.
The longer you wait to build internal capability, the harder it gets. The codebase grows. The dev shop accumulates knowledge that's hard to transfer. You become more dependent.
How to Fix It
- Get an independent code assessment. Before anything else, understand what you actually have. Is it salvageable or do you need to start over?
- Build internal technical capability. Even one good engineer changes everything. Someone who owns the code, not bills for it.
- Create a transition plan. Don't cut ties with the dev shop overnight. Overlap, transfer knowledge, then separate.
- Consider a fractional CTO. Someone to guide the transition, evaluate hires, and build the right foundation.
- Be honest with investors. "We're transitioning to in-house development" is better than pretending the problem doesn't exist.
How I Can Help
I've helped several non-technical founders navigate this transition. The first step is understanding what you have: a code audit that tells you honestly whether to build on it or start fresh.
Then I can help you hire your first technical team members, manage the transition from the dev shop, and build the internal capability you need to move fast.
Recognize this pattern?
30-minute diagnostic call.
Tell me what's happening. I'll tell you the one thing to fix first.