Core Engineering and Outsourcing in Startups

Two of my core tenants for startups are that one of the co-founders needs to be technical and that the engineering should be done in-house. Now, this doesn’t apply to more mature companies, or non-software/technology companies. One area to clarify is that core engineering should be done in-house while peripheral engineering can be outsourced. Core engineering is the main application and platform that provides the central value.

Here are some potential items that can be outsourced:

• Marketing website — only if the app is separate from the website (e.g. most B2B SaaS products)
• Mobile app — many companies are dipping their toes in the iPhone and Android world, making it suitable to get started with an outsourced app (you shouldn’t outsource the mobile app if it is core to the business)
• Plug-ins to other products — there are often special purpose plug-ins like those for Microsoft Office products that can be outsourced to specialists, especially if the plug-in is fairly black and white in functionality

My recommendation is to do the core engineering in-house and consider outsourcing items that are more self contained and peripheral.

What else? What other thoughts do you have about core engineering and outsourcing in startups?