I have had both very positive and very negative experiences with outsourcing development. Regardless of country including within the States. Yes, we can find

I have had both very positive and very negative experiences with outsourcing development. Regardless of country including within the States. Yes, we can find cheaper labor in other countries. Yes we can mostly overcome language issues, time differences etc. But one thing that is not insurmountable is the number of times the tech I have paid for would wind up in other peoples hands. The problem is not unique to other countries as it happens within the US too, but at least within our own legal system there are ways to protect clients and ourselves better. When dealing Internationally, the chances for a startup to guard their intellectual property and competitive advantage is far less likely. And honestly, the companies that have been most successful in outsourcing Internationally, generally have a presence in Country. Microsoft, Oracle, GE among hundreds of others (I did this for/with GE for a time period). For a startup splitting a small team Internationally to try and save on what should be a core skillset and competitive advantage just doesn't make sense. Not to mention, the only thing of value for a startup early on is the team they assemble. If that team is not dedicated, is out sourced and worse yet, outsourced Internationally, the startup will struggle to gain the attention of investors if that is what they desire. Last point, if you are bootstrapping then the equation (and risk profile) can change. It may be to your benefit to try and have some (IMO non-core) components of your software built offshore. Just takes some management and willingness to spend the extra time on documentation and communication. Additionally, for a well funded startup in later rounds they may choose to offshore parts of their development to help move things along because they have the ability to take some risk on there, and their core IP is already developed.