Having ideas is relatively easy, but having good ideas is a bit more difficult. Implementing ideas, however, is something else entirely.
A variety of different decisions and challenges are common, especially in the early stages of a start-up. However, certain decisions have long-term effects and should be well analysed in advance. A promising startup idea on an inappropriate technology base, the tech stack, can quickly bring unnecessary challenges, limitations and costs.
Therefore, it is important to align the tech stack with future challenges. The following questions need to be considered:
- How can I ensure that the balance between “time-to-market” and “leading edge” technology is achieved?
- How do I find the right developers or long-term IT partners?
- Who can help me choose the right technology?
- Is the technology secured for the long term?
- What is the right technology for my start-up?
- and many more
If the question “What is the right technology for my start-up?†has been troubling you, feel free to contact us directly – we are happy to help!
Copy with pride — How others do it
- Which technology stack is used by companies like Spotify or Ebay?
- Who all uses AngularJS or .Net?
- What is the evolution of technology stacks and where are they being used?
- Which technologies and stacks are established?
- Which technologies are being hyped right now?
The goal is not to simply copy and use technologies just because established companies are using them. The goal should be to get inspiration or to be able to confirm the choice of tech stack for the startup and get a good understanding.
Continuity as an important feature – How secure and long-lasting is a technology selection?
Like everything in life, technology is transient and comes and goes.
Closed software with an established company behind it or open source with a large community? Both variants have shown that demand and use can decline rapidly and the technology is often not used any further.
Therefore, various indications should be looked at and analysed in advance.
Open Source Technology
In the case of open source technologies, in addition to the size of the community, traffic in particular is a decisive indicator of how established the technology is. Another decisive factor is whether there is a clear roadmap for further development. It is also important how quickly support can be provided, e.g. for enquiries to the community.
Closed Source Technology
In the case of technologies that are not open source, attention should be paid to the following aspects:
- Which company is behind it? (Size, history, strategy, etc.)
- How many technology partners are there in Switzerland or globally?
- What references are available?
- Is there a roadmap?
Direct discussions with technology providers and software developers are often very helpful and provide further insights in the selection process.
Scalability as new normal – Can I scale with this technology stack?
This question usually has a direct impact on your development team or your development partners. In extreme cases, you may need new team members overnight.
Never underestimate the training period:
When building up or expanding the development team, you often have to take into account the training period, which is usually underestimated. Even an absolute senior developer sometimes needs weeks, if not months, until he or she can draw from the full resources.
The more complex the architecture, team structure, product/service offering, coding rules and security aspects, the more challenging it is for new team members. If an exotic tech stack is still in use, the process can quickly be extended by several months or make recruiting more difficult.
Established programming languages have the advantage that they are widely used. For example, if you use C#, Ruby, etc. as your base language, you lay a good foundation to scale. An interesting statistic on the development and spread of programming languages can be found at https://statisticstimes.com/tech/top-computer-languages.php
The basic programming language is certainly not everything in the tech stack, but it is very central and, as a solid foundation, ensures a secure and simple structure.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, you will constantly question and evaluate your business model. The technology question will always be central. That’s why partners can provide you with established programming languages with the ability to scale and offshoring capacity, bringing you great long-term benefits. If you need someone to brainstorm with, we have an open ear and are happy to contribute our expert knowledge to your challenges.