How do I evaluate a developer’s proposal?

Today I’m going to answer a question from Colette, the cofounder of a health tech startup. Her question is...

How do I evaluate a developer’s proposal?

Before answering this question, let’s add a bit of context.Colette already has a great offline business with its own practitioners network. Her business is growing and she is about to develop a new set of tools to systematize her ecosystem and bring her business to a scalable level.She has already written the specifications to create both the Web and the mobile app. It’s now time to evaluate the developer’s proposal.Let’s see what a good one should contain.

Developer proposal must-have

• Project context
• Product understanding
• Deliverables
• Planned milestones with an estimated starting date
• Recommended technology & why
• Deliverable's ownership
• Project management & quality assurance methodology
• Previous user cases/testimonials for similar projects
• Company & team details
• Pricing details

Choosing a provider is a thing!It’s the result of a good communication between you and your provider. But it’s also being able to evaluate someone else’s skills when you do not have them yourself.

The most important to evaluate

• Product understanding
• Recommended technology & why
• Pricing details
• Long-term & risk management

To make a good decision here is what to focus on:

• Product understanding Did they really get what you wanted? Did they reformulate your instructions in their own words and tell you their own vision of the product?
• Technology Why this they choose this one technology over the others?
• Pricing Is it in the average in terms of days and charge?
• Long-term relationship & risk management Do you own the source code from the day one? Are they ready to teach your future team how to internalize the development? Do they provide tests or is it something that you have to do as a client?

Conclusion

So to conclude and to answer Colette’s question, the most important thing is to evaluate the communication between you and your provider, making sure that they are able to listen and teach you what you need to know.Now if like Colette, you have a specific question for your project, just go ahead and ask on myctofriend.co/ask. I will do my best to answer your question by video or to redirect you to any existing content that will answer it.I publish a new video every week so subscribe now to be better at tech management and build your successful startup.Also be sure to go through our other content here at myctofriend.co to learn more from real startup growth experiences.I’ll be waiting for your questions, and I look forward to seeing you in other videos.