SaaS: strategies for engaging technical figures

Anyone who has ever thought about developing a software project has had to face one of the biggest challenges of recent decades: finding available developers.

I have personally experienced the technical consulting sector, and over the years I have had the opportunity to confront directly the difficulties in recruiting IT resources. In this article, I will address this issue, felt strongly by both startups and larger companies, explaining how the Startup Studio model can mitigate it (at least in the initial phase of a project) and outlining some strategies for successfully engaging technical figures. 

The problem 

Currently, the ICT sector counts over 730,000 companies in Europe: they support the digitalization of processes in European countries as well as assist companies across all sectors in technological transformation. 

The demand for digital skills, however, continues to surpass supply. 53% of European companies report having significant difficulties in finding available IT profiles. The costs incurred by companies for the search and selection of these profiles are enormous. The process, which goes from identifying to contracting each individual candidate, can take up to 21 days.

As one can imagine, the innovation ecosystem is among those most impacted by this issue. Generally, the most innovative projects rely on niche technologies often known only to a small circle of professionals, making them even harder to reach. 

The sheer amount of languages and technologies is indeed one of the causes of the difficulty in finding specialized personnel. It is not enough to recruit an IT expert; it is necessary that they have vertical expertise in one or more competencies.

Scouting tech figures: traditional startup vs startup studio

The problem of recruiting developers and IT talents is even more acute for startups. Although software startups can offer a developer the unique and exciting prospect of building something completely new from scratch, they often have more limited resources and a smaller network compared to more established companies that can provide more certainty to candidates.

Moreover, the founder of the startup may not have the right skills to clearly define their needs in the IT field or to recognize the right profile in the market.

For a traditional SaaS startup, which must necessarily create the tech team before starting to develop its product, finding the right developers quickly is of paramount importance. If adequate figures cannot be found, development does not begin. If development does not happen, there is no product.

The startup studio model helps to mitigate this problem in several ways. 

First of all, the startup studio already has its own tech team with the right expertise to manage the initial phase of the project, identify technical requirements, develop a prototype, and create a development roadmap. 

This business model also leads startup studios to constantly scout for new talents and cultivate a network of professionals.

Thus, the startup studio starts off at an advantage compared to the traditional startup. In an early phase, this advantage can make a difference in the very survival of the startup. A startup created in a Startup Studio can indeed focus immediately on product development and only later worry about finding talents to grow its products or services, thereby allowing the tech team provided by the Startup Studio to work on the next new startup and so on.

Additionally, starting from a business idea that has already passed the initial validation milestones, it can offer the candidate developer something more certain compared to many traditional startups.

This does not mean that the shortage of available tech figures is not a problem for Startup Studios. Quite the contrary. But the difference lies in the "when." Sooner or later, even a startup born in a startup studio faces the same challenges as any other company trying to compete for talented developers in a competitive market. 

It is clear, therefore, that the startup studio can push the problem to a later phase, but cannot avoid it. 

Strategies for engaging tech figures

In response to the growing demand for IT professionals, numerous portals have emerged that allow for the search for freelance developers to engage. One aspect to consider is that, in many cases, there is no verification process for the skills declared by users on their profiles.

Today's companies recruit their developers through direct contact on LinkedIn or by posting job offers on various job board portals. However, these tools often prove ineffective. The company finds itself having to pay upfront for posting job offers, without any guarantee of receiving targeted applications. An alternative solution, though certainly more expensive, is to rely on headhunting companies.

In recent years, more and more companies have been turning to IT Partners for the development of their projects, engaging external specialized suppliers capable of guiding them in technological choices and supporting them in application development. Just in 2020, the outsourcing market grew by over 17%, generating a business volume of over 66 billion.

One of the advantages of outsourcing is the ability to delegate part of the work to other companies or professionals, allowing for a greater focus on the company's core business, thus achieving a more flexible cost structure (outsourcing enables variable rather than fixed costs).

To find the right partner, there is no need to conduct exhaustive searches that often end up being fruitless. There are dedicated platforms – such as TimeFlow – which serve as an advanced point of contact between companies seeking developers and registered IT Partners. Utilizing technologies based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, these platforms can fully automate the process of searching and selecting the ideal IT partner.

Compared to other solutions, these dedicated platforms have the advantage not only of reducing search times but also of quickly identifying the most suitable figures for each project, allowing companies to achieve their business goals in the shortest possible time, remaining agile until the conditions are right to consolidate an internal core team.

Startup Bakery is the Italian startup studio specialized in the creation of B2B SaaS companies with Artificial Intelligence. We offer aspiring Co-Founders the opportunity to develop a business idea. We create investment opportunities for Professional Investors. We assist companies in the innovation process.