4 ms·

"Pricing-wise, I'd say the all-in fees on a per dev basis are comparable to a developer's salary here in the US, the fees are all inclusive of benefits, tech eq

"Pricing-wise, I'd say the all-in fees on a per dev basis are comparable to a developer's salary here in the US, the fees are all inclusive of benefits, tech equipment, offices, perks, etc..." Well, then as a USA based org, I'd have to say - what's the point? If it's comparable to a USA dev Salary, what savings/arbitrage/win a I achieving here? Wouldn't it be easier for a USA based company to just corp 2 corp/1099 or such someone onshore, then offshore and have a middle man?

FrankLicea 4y ago
So for us, hiring domestically (either 1099 or FTE) vs internationally, wasn't a mutually exclusive decision. Finding good people was a real risk to our growth. So we expanded the top of our funnel to more locations simultaneously. However, we weren't just interested in salary arbitrage, we really did need to attract good people with premium benefits. Good international teammates aren't going to leave their team only to risk being a second class contractor on a foreign team. So we found that by offering our teammates a premium experience: health insurance, gym perks, education resources, Macbooks, and other apple products, career paths and salary reviews, we expanded the pool of people that were interested in working with us beyond the pool of people on Toptal/Turing and other platforms with no fulfillment on the ground. Not all teams are interested in that philosophy in hiring but we've had the most success with it.
- causality0 4y ago
  That's nice but would you mind actually answering his question? Why should he pay comparable rates to someone residing where the cost of living is a fraction of the US? There are concrete benefits to having dev teams composed of people who share a common culture. What's on the other end of the scales to balance out losing that if it isn't money?
  - 0xffff2 4y ago
    I'm not in this space at all, but my reading of OP's comment was that the _total_ cost of a dev from their service is comparable to just the _salary_ (excluding benefits and other overhead) of a US developer.
  - FrankLicea 4y ago
    I believe I did answer the question, but let me try rephrase! First, the rates tend to be comparable to _just_ the salary component of a US teammate (Austin, Texas). The US salary component doesn't include insurance, taxes, and other perks, which could add another 30-50% to the cost of employment. With Astro all those items are included in the rate. Second, and hopefully I answer the question, the reason you would pay for those benefits for an international teammate (and not just an arbitrage play), is because we believe that it allows companies to recruit and retain a different pool of teammates not accessible on the other platforms like Toptal/Turing/Outsourcing, etc. I hope that's better! Let me know.
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    The cost of employing someone in the US can easily be 2x their actual salary.
TuringNYC 4y ago
>> If it's comparable to a USA dev Salary, what savings/arbitrage/win a I achieving here? Wouldn't it be easier for a USA based company to just corp 2 corp/1099 or such someone onshore, then offshore and have a middle man? I'm not affiliated with the GP, but here are my takes: 1. Talent is talent, so doesnt matter where you hire from as long as it is good talent with good communications skills 2. I cant find someone overseas, so this is a good platform to do so 3. I dont want to deal with international money transfers/taxes/restrictions, so this takes care of that 4. I doubt you can get this type of talent at Austin rates, so the rates are good. If you need talent NOW, it is even harder to get it at good rates

FrankLicea 4y ago

So for us, hiring domestically (either 1099 or FTE) vs internationally, wasn't a mutually exclusive decision. Finding good people was a real risk to our growth. So we expanded the top of our funnel to more locations simultaneously. However, we weren't just interested in salary arbitrage, we really did need to attract good people with premium benefits. Good international teammates aren't going to leave their team only to risk being a second class contractor on a foreign team. So we found that by offering our teammates a premium experience: health insurance, gym perks, education resources, Macbooks, and other apple products, career paths and salary reviews, we expanded the pool of people that were interested in working with us beyond the pool of people on Toptal/Turing and other platforms with no fulfillment on the ground. Not all teams are interested in that philosophy in hiring but we've had the most success with it.

causality0 4y ago
That's nice but would you mind actually answering his question? Why should he pay comparable rates to someone residing where the cost of living is a fraction of the US? There are concrete benefits to having dev teams composed of people who share a common culture. What's on the other end of the scales to balance out losing that if it isn't money?
- 0xffff2 4y ago
  I'm not in this space at all, but my reading of OP's comment was that the _total_ cost of a dev from their service is comparable to just the _salary_ (excluding benefits and other overhead) of a US developer.
- FrankLicea 4y ago
  I believe I did answer the question, but let me try rephrase! First, the rates tend to be comparable to _just_ the salary component of a US teammate (Austin, Texas). The US salary component doesn't include insurance, taxes, and other perks, which could add another 30-50% to the cost of employment. With Astro all those items are included in the rate. Second, and hopefully I answer the question, the reason you would pay for those benefits for an international teammate (and not just an arbitrage play), is because we believe that it allows companies to recruit and retain a different pool of teammates not accessible on the other platforms like Toptal/Turing/Outsourcing, etc. I hope that's better! Let me know.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  The cost of employing someone in the US can easily be 2x their actual salary.

TuringNYC 4y ago

>> If it's comparable to a USA dev Salary, what savings/arbitrage/win a I achieving here? Wouldn't it be easier for a USA based company to just corp 2 corp/1099 or such someone onshore, then offshore and have a middle man? I'm not affiliated with the GP, but here are my takes: 1. Talent is talent, so doesnt matter where you hire from as long as it is good talent with good communications skills 2. I cant find someone overseas, so this is a good platform to do so 3. I dont want to deal with international money transfers/taxes/restrictions, so this takes care of that 4. I doubt you can get this type of talent at Austin rates, so the rates are good. If you need talent NOW, it is even harder to get it at good rates