What I learned from outsourcing the development of my first app
Outsourcing app development isn't the mistake. The mistake is doing it without anyone on your side who understands how it's being built. I learned that with SpeakOn: it hit #1 on the App Store in Mexico with 200,000 users in 48 hours, and it died because its architecture couldn't handle the load.
- If you don't understand how your product is built, you don't control your company.
- An app designed for a thousand users may not work for a hundred thousand; you have to build it for the day it takes off.
- Before launching, someone experienced should review the architecture and test it under real load.
What happened with SpeakOn
I knew nothing about code or architecture, so I hired four developers: two backend in Go, one Android, and one iOS. The app worked fine with a few users. With hundreds of thousands, the backend crashed every time people tried to sign up.
When I brought in expert Go engineers from the United States, they explained the problem with an image: building a system is like building a house. If you didn't plan for a pool on the third floor from the start, adding it later is almost impossible. Rebuilding SpeakOn was going to take eight months.
The mistakes I made
- Not having anyone technical on my side. The team built and no one reviewed their decisions with independent judgment.
- Building for the launch, not for success. The architecture worked for a small app, and the launch plan was for a big one.
- Not testing under real load. We never simulated what would happen with hundreds of thousands of signups at the same time.
- Launching to everyone at once. A launch party, press, and celebrities brought everyone in on the same day, with no way to control the pace.
What I'd do today if I outsourced an app
- Hire an independent technical advisor to review the architecture before a line of code is written and at every major delivery.
- Define from day one how many users it has to handle and ask the team to prove the design supports it.
- Run load tests before any launch campaign.
- Launch in stages: a waitlist or invites, so you grow at the pace the technology can handle.
- Understand enough to ask the right questions. You don't need to code; you need to know where what you're selling can break.
Frequently asked questions
Is outsourcing app development a bad idea?
No. The risk is outsourcing without your own technical oversight. An independent advisor who reviews the architecture cuts that risk a lot.
Why do apps crash when they go viral?
Because the architecture was designed for few users. With thousands of simultaneous signups, the backend gets overwhelmed, and fixing it can mean rebuilding the app.
How do you keep an app from crashing at launch?
With load testing before launch, an architecture built to scale, and a staged rollout, like a waitlist.
Do I need to know how to code to start a tech company?
No, but you do need to understand how your product is built and have someone technical on your side.
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