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Ask HN: Looking to outsource web development of my site/app

6 points by OnyeaboAduba ↗ HN
Im taking some advice I got earlier this week on HN and will begin to look to outside companies to help with the development of my website/app . Do any of you have some suggestion on which companies to use???

Some quick site specs ....

E-Commerce website with pinterest like interface with ability for users to interact with products in real time and for other users to see the results of that interaction in real time.

Suggestions on anything; companies to look at , pricing , programming languages is welcome

7 comments

[ 2.1 ms ] story [ 31.6 ms ] thread
msrpotus
A general recommendation: make sure your specs are very explicit about what you want and how it should work and think through the edge cases beforehand.
lifeisstillgood
A different but related recommendation - hire one of the Whoishiring thread to help you think through those edge cases and deliver tests /specs and then hire someone to work on it.
soneca
I never saw some case about it, but that sounds like a great idea. I outsourced all the development of my startup and is very hard to transform all your vision on specs. I do have a very logical mind, but that is more about knowing what technology to use than being able to describe the features. An i itial, experienced, trusting consultant may help a lot.

Also, try learn the basics of coding and software engineering so you can better manage this outsourcing.

OnyeaboAduba
Thanks for the advice Im currently taking courses at codeacademy so I can have some basic understanding I love this community people are genuinely eager to give good advice I appreciate it.
jcr
On the first of every month, there are two submissions to HN from user "whoishiring" [1] where the first submission is companies looking to hire [2], and the second is those looking for freelancers or looking for freelancing work [3].

I mention both since some of the firms hiring could be what you're after, or you could possibly go the freelancing route.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5304169

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5304173

OnyeaboAduba
Looking thru the links now good stuff Thanks I appreciate you.
murtza
Derek Sivers has a good post on outsourcing development: http://sivers.org/how2hire

Here are the steps Derek suggests:

1. Reduce your big idea to “Version 1.0”

2. Write a simple overview of what it does

3. Write a detailed walk-through of every click

4. Break it up into milestones

5. Make your first milestone a stand-alone project

6. Post it at elance, guru, odesk, vworker

7. Hire one from each

8. Continue with the one you like best