Start-up Advice

NoQuarter

Hi all
I'm kicking the tires on starting a company in the next year or so. It's a food tech business and without giving away too much, basically customers must be able to order food through their browser, an app and in store through a tablet.

Unfortunately the problem is that I have no tech experience and so will need to (a) find a tech co-founder or (b) outsource the initial development to perhaps get a prototype built to bring to investors.

I'm looking for general advice, really in relation to route (a) or (b).

For (a) - is it incredibly difficult to find a tech co-founder? I'm from a different legal background so have no tech contacts. I live abroad which is an added difficulty.

For (b) - is it advisable to outsource the initial prototype now just so I have a product that I can show to investors? How does that work if I end up with an investment and can then bring in a hire to keep developing the product? Do they just develop on top of the prototype or start again? Do I need to be careful to get the prototype written in a specific language?

Finally, what exactly do I need to get my product? The product has got to be super user friendly and visual so do I need a web designer, software developer and someone on UI/UX? Or is there a jack of all trades out there?

Sorry about the ramblings but this is the very early days and I'm a bit lost on the product development side.

Thanks

boege

OP.
If you go route (b) then before you can outsource development you need to develop a detailed technology requirements document and it sounds like you are not yet fully sure what the final form of the product looks like. Where the final form of the product is unclear then this approach is very high risk (and expensive).

Long term it sounds like your business is going to live or die based on the technology (through which the service is offered) so it sounds like you will need a techie with skin in the game. You don't need all the tech skills since a good tech co-founder will know how to contract other skills.

One model you could consider is to give equity in your business to a techie instead of cash on a job by job basis. In this way you get to try someone out before you make a long term commitments. Step by step, so to speak.

tookotook

Does the world really need another food ordering/delivery app?

Building an application like this is actually a huge undertaking.
I would suggest you sit down and try build it on your own, so you'll at least have some idea of the technical requirements involved. This will help you when outsourcing to a developer to build your initial prototype.

Once you have your prototype built you'll be in a position to at least begin to look for a technical co-founder and try and sell him or her on your vision.

sysprogrammer

why can you not use an existing white label shopping cart. they are tried and tested for years.

I'm not sure you need a co-founder to get some techie advice either. just pay a contractor a decent rate as it's a bit ad-hoc.

can you elaborate a bit more on where you are positioning in the market please , are you a food company , a restaurant , fast casual , wholesaler etc as it will lead to better replies from this forum.

oh and if you keep your equity then later on you also get to keep the profit.

sysprog

jacksn

op i wouldn't pursue this venture, nothing about it sounds viable.

onedmc

boege wrote: »

OP.

Long term it sounds like your business is going to live or die based on the technology (through which the service is offered) so
.

Companies live or die by the customers not the technology.

MOH

jacksn wrote: »

op i wouldn't pursue this venture, nothing about it sounds viable.

The OP has given one aspect of the business that they need advice on. Without knowing anything else about it, it's impossible to say whether it's viable or not.

jacksn

MOH wrote: »

The OP has given one aspect of the business that they need advice on. Without knowing anything else about it, it's impossible to say whether it's viable or not.

It's a food tech business and without giving away too much, basically customers must be able to order food through their browser, an app and in store through a tablet.

what exactly do I need to get my product? The product has got to be super user friendly and visual so do I need a web designer, software developer and someone on UI/UX? Or is there a jack of all trades out there?

I live abroad which is an added difficulty.

Based on these 3, it doesn't sound viable.

IMO

gargargar

If you have done your research into existing offerings and know what you want to build, then I would look to talk to a graphic design/UI/UX person. You could build a vapour-ware version of the application. 6-10 screens that look like they are doing something but actually have no code behind. You could do this in conversations of the design person. This might only cost you 1500 or so (plus time), depending on the person you hire. So not a huge amount in the scheme of things.

This should be enough to go and talk to some potential customers and see if they are interested, then you can either build it out/refine the idea. In parallel I would go to meet-ups/hackatons to try and find technical people who are looking to build something. Getting a technical person as a partner would be important. With the vapour-ware you can sell it to them, also if you have evidence of potential customers it should be easier to get someone on-board (with equity I would imagine).