Unless your team is experienced in creating cryptocurrencies, while working on ICOs you will come to a point where you will be in need of additional backup to support you in solving particular technical issues.
Being a tech expert, you already know the pros and cons of outsourcing. But what are the biggest problems and pain points in outsourcing this kind of project? How does it differ from the usual? Is there anything I should beware of?
Here are a bunch of our comments, coming from the 4soft team, on delivering successful blockchain, ICO and Web projects of various complexity.
Let’s jump right in:
What do you have to consider before launching an Initial Coin Offering with a Software House?
1. Avoid rates based on cryptocurrency
Some software houses base their rates for ICOs on cryptocurrency tokens. While it might seem to be a tempting model, allowing you to pay directly in crypto raised during the project, it also carries some risk.
The first and the most explicit is, of course, a change in the crypto value.
Of course, it can also work the other way around: you can actually save half off the price. But if we are talking about projects worth, for example, 50 bitcoins ($420 000 at the moment of writing this), the leverage can swallow your whole project. You are playing roulette – a big event on the crypto market can actually drown your ICO.
2. Discuss the level of control and responsibility
In ICO projects, a lot of elements are extremely painful and complicated to outsource. When you are working with blockchain there are points of no return, along with sensitive data all around.
The comfort of outsourcing is often in giving up the responsibility for your project to someone else. However, if you are dealing with financial data, you simply cannot let yourself do that.
That’s why, while working with CTOs, we’ve developed a cooperation model that instead augments their in-house resources, giving full control to their tech team. They use our experienced blockchain developers to deepen their understanding of blockchain and build a solution for their companies.
Of course, you may not have your own team to take care of that at the moment. In this case, you will be dependent on an external partner to assess which technology would be best for the project and the way of approaching it.
That’s the moment when trust comes into play.
3. Give them a credit of trust
After picking the right software house, based on referrals, delivered projects and testimonials, a good practice is to give them a healthy credit of trust. A credible partner with the proper experience will know how to proactively make you feel safe about your project.
Why do I mention that? An overzealous approach to micromanagement might slow you down and distract you. That’s why “transparency” is a mantra used in all software houses – to help you feel safe, secure and in charge, and let them do their job with all the experience they’ve gathered.
Simply find a self-sufficient team with strong business ethics and let them do the job for you – that’s what you are paying them for.
And talking about money…
4. Mind the precision of your ICO budget estimation
The rule of thumb is: if you get a quick custom project estimation in a Time & Material model, it is imprecise and you will actually have to pay more to get the project done.
We know that a precise estimation takes time, and it shouldn’t be rushed – our analysts take great care to make sure any estimate will be accurate and fit into the prescribed budget. Development is pricy, and you don’t want to spend any mor
