Too Good To Be True
Lessons from the Used Car Lot
Car shopping recently at a low price point taught a key lesson. They were all too good to be true. Every car brought for inspection had severe undisclosed issues. A rusted chassis. A chop shop door. A streaky paint job. Negotiating a ninety day warranty into the deal added some peace of mind.
Lo and behold, on the first long drive to Sequoia the check engine light came on. After getting reassurance that as long as it wasn’t flashing we could finish the trip—the car ended up at the dealership for a week, with a stellar loaner in it’s place. The fix cost next to nothing. End result was a slick Audi E-Tron with a clean bill of health for under $15K.
The same is true for offshore dev shops. They have a low upfront cost, but without guardrails they can become massively costly. The sunk cost fallacy and lack of technical knowledge are but a few of the causes.
People like to harp on the cost of peace of mind. Yes, in an ideal world all decisions would be made to minimize hassle. But usually cost is at least a partial factor, especially in fledgling software startups.
If it seems to good to be true it probably is. But devoid of alternatives that doesn’t mean you can’t move forward with protection.