Hiring a full-time developer sounds like the safe, obvious play. They're yours, dedicated, and always around — right?
But when you dig into the actual costs, risks, and realities, outsourcing your development team often turns out to be the more strategic, flexible, and lower-risk move.
When you're building a startup, every dollar matters.
You’re juggling limited runway, trying to prove a concept, and aiming to impress investors before the bank account hits zero. So when it’s time to build your product, the temptation is real:
“Let’s go with the cheaper development team.”
They promise the same features. The same deadlines. Maybe even the same tech stack.
But then it all starts to fall apart.
The “full-stack developer” title sounds great—but in reality, most devs specialize while maintaining broad knowledge across the stack. The goal isn’t to do everything—it’s to be versatile, collaborative, and sharp where it counts.
Not every company needs to become a software company. But a lot of businesses fall into the trap of thinking they do—so they start hiring developers, building internal teams, and investing heavily in tech they barely understand.
From startup to startup to startup? Image starting 3 different companies...
That’s exactly the journey Chad VanCalster, President at QOLOS, took. Along the way, Chad has gathered valuable insights on building and scaling startups, insights that could benefit anyone on the entrepreneurial path. Below is a summary of his learnings from starting 3 companies and working on a 4th.
At QOLOS, our mission is to provide clients with the highest quality software products. Code review serves as our primary line of defense in upholding stringent code quality standards. By ensuring meticulous code review, we not only enhance the outcomes for our clients but also create a more rewarding experience for our developers.
When a developer submits their code for review, it undergoes rigorous evaluation by their peers. This collaborative process identifies gaps in test coverage, highlights repeated code segments, and uncovers potential vulnerabilities that might have been overlooked initially.
In today's competitive and volatile business landscape, companies are placing increasing demands on their employees. However, the same factors that drive businesses also overwhelm individuals, fueling fear and compromising their potential. While many C-Suite leaders strive to cultivate high-performance cultures, our findings suggest that focusing on performance alone may not be the healthiest or most sustainable approach. Instead, fostering a culture of growth proves to be more effective. This article explores the concept of a growth culture and outlines the key components needed to build one.
These guys are hands down the best out there. From the very beginning the design team hit the ground running and built us multiple options to choose from. The main asset to small business is the support from the tech team. The diligence and attention to detail is a service received that you cannot put a price on. Chad is very knowledgeable and keeps the clients interest in the forefront all of the time. We have been a customer for 5 years and look forward to many years of a continued relationship. Highly Recommend. Thanks again Chad for your leadership and all you and your team do for us.
I wholeheartedly recommend QOLOS to anyone in need of top-notch website services. Their talented team will go above and beyond to bring your vision to life and create a digital platform that stands out in today's competitive online landscape. Partnering with QOLOS was one of the best decisions I made for my business, and I look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future."
