So often these days, we hear both Founders and VCs insist that the only way to grow (or get or receive funding) is to hire a robust internal team of top talent, boasting credentials from big Tech companies. While we agree that putting the right people in place is crucial, we approach it differently, and have seen success again and again from this model. We advocate for kickstarting your progress by first hiring an agency, then proactively hire full-time employees as you build. Here’s why it works.

Provides Structure & Stability

Hiring a top developer into a nascent organizational structure and non-existent code-base, without process or managerial support, sets everyone up for failure. What is the deploy process? What flavor of Agile methodology should you use? What project management tools do you use? What development platform do you choose? These are just a few of the countless, important decisions that could be made incorrectly the first time.  But quality Agencies like Tanooki have already crossed this path and will help you avoid wasting time & money on wrong initial choices. By letting an Agency build out the structure & put the product development processes in place, a company can then bring in strong developers and give them a head start on being productive.

Provides Top Talent Efficiency

Agencies can get a bad rap for being costly, but the math doesn’t support it. Founders should think about the value created given the resources invested. You’re getting a team of tenured, top-of-their-game specialists who are dedicated to the project at hand, at whatever percentage of allocation makes sense. You likely don’t need 100% of a seasoned Marketer from the onset, though you should have someone thinking about your go-to-market strategy as you continue to build. Especially for startups, it makes more sense to invest in fractional top talent - and an Agency model provides security in both business processes and allocation - than paying an inflated salary and significant equity for a mid-tier professional that will likely have to learn a lot on the job.

Allows for Smart Succession

As your product takes shape and you continue to build, NOW is the time to start thinking about strategic hires. And let your Agency help you source. After all, they were pivotal in the initial product development process and will know what type of employee would best serve your team. They will also help to ramp up those employees in a functional product development cycle. And as the Agency’s purview shifts from primary build responsibility to an augmentation of your now-growing team, you can pull them back in when needed (to accelerate a new feature or backfill any organizational holes) and do so at an efficient cost.

It goes without saying that the Agency’s capabilities are a critical element. But, if you find the right blend of an Agency you can trust that has experience working with companies like yours, we believe you can expect more reliable outcomes in terms of quality and on-time delivery. We’ve proven this model for over ten years, and have countless success stories that have allowed us to work with companies multiple times over many years. And in an ever-competitive marketplace, we’d argue that thoughtful growth and scaling is what founders and VCs should be looking for in their investments.