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Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

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Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#121

Post by KptMarchewa »

CodeBeater wrote: post #114
skeletal88 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should someone be happy to deal with work stuff outside of work hours? It seems to be a thing in the US, but not in Europe or other places.

I agree with you, nobody should. But what took me by surprise was that they get angry even about their headspaces. For instance, sending someone a text and saying "don't worry about this until you're back from your break" will yield little to no effect, as they value being completely disconnected from work during any hours they're not being paid for. Which I think is perfectly reasonable.

> For instance, sending someone a text and saying "don't worry about this until you're back from your break" will yield little to no effect, as they value being completely disconnected from work during any hours they're not being paid for.

That's interesting. As someone who works from Poland with US companies, this is opposite of what I do. There is little common time despite me being very much not a morning person, so I think giving ~20 minutes of my evening by responding to people in US is very reasonable.

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#122

Post by mejutoco »

probably_wrong wrote: post #44
jamal-kumar wrote: post #6

Excelente! En cuáles países eran la gran parte de sus trabajadores?

Small friendly correction: ¿En cuáles países está la mayor parte de sus trabajadores? "Ser" vs "estar" is one of those hair-pulling verbs with one "simple" rule and a hundred exceptions.

I might as well :p

¿En qué países están la mayor parte de sus trabajadores?

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#123

Post by ricardonunez »

smallerfish wrote: post #82
woleium wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to share your research? my email is on my profile if you are.

Sure, emailed.

If you don't mind sharing, I am interested too. Email is my username @gmail. Thanks

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#124

Post by 1123581321 »

sebleon wrote: post #118
FrankLicea wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We kept encountering the same issues you mention. Our teammates weren't satisfied with the outsourcing company and didn't like being interleaved between projects (formally or informally). And with negotiating down lower rates, the clients they tended to attract weren't exactly tech companies, which was uninspiring for our latam teammates. We believe that by providing a platform that lets tech companies provide a prem…

Dude - it's way better for companies to hire developers directly, no need for a middle man like Astro that's charging 15% (eg. 15% of $80k/yr = $12k/yr in middle man fees)... platforms like letsdeel.com or remote.com charge as little as $50/mo per person to take care of compliance and payroll

Oh, it’s only 15%. No, it’s not say better to avoid paying that. Just marginally better, and that assumes the ability to reliably attract and retain the same talent.

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#125

Post by smallerfish »

moonchrome wrote: post #98
smallerfish wrote: post #25

Not to be a downer, but that's pretty expensive. I spent last week in [latam capital city] and met with 3 local outsourcing firms, down from 6 that I'd pre-screened by Zoom. I then reduced the list to 2 based on the co-founders of each being technical, and their solid recruiting practices. Both have offices which devs are free to come into (or work remotely), both pay salaries and offer benefits, both provide embedde…

At those prices I'd expect inflating estimates, catfishing juniors by selling seniors in interview/contacts and splitting senior staff between multiple clients. Basically that's the price range a senior developer can make on his own remoting on platforms like toptal - there's no buffer there for the agency cut unless they are some partnership or losing money to catch clients. And best case scenario - they have decent…

They have decent devs, as I talked to several candidates. Both have high retention, under 10% churn. Devs are fully embedded, so there's no opportunity to split.

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#126

Post by eulercoder »

jacsamira wrote: post #31
smallerfish wrote: post #25

Not to be a downer, but that's pretty expensive. I spent last week in [latam capital city] and met with 3 local outsourcing firms, down from 6 that I'd pre-screened by Zoom. I then reduced the list to 2 based on the co-founders of each being technical, and their solid recruiting practices. Both have offices which devs are free to come into (or work remotely), both pay salaries and offer benefits, both provide embedde…

Not a downer at all! We're not a fit for everyone. We totally get that. We let the devs set their prices, and then have a standard premium benefits package because we believe everyone should have silicon valley level perks. We're definitely not the cheapest, but we're invested in a long-term relationship for both parties and not just a cost-savings play. In our experience, turnover ends up being super high with low r…

I want this too please Thank you so much!

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#127

Post by mantas »

smallerfish wrote: post #25

Not to be a downer, but that's pretty expensive. I spent last week in [latam capital city] and met with 3 local outsourcing firms, down from 6 that I'd pre-screened by Zoom. I then reduced the list to 2 based on the co-founders of each being technical, and their solid recruiting practices. Both have offices which devs are free to come into (or work remotely), both pay salaries and offer benefits, both provide embedde…

Do you want cheap price or smart people?

Coming from eastern europe, such sweatshops usually pay local salaries and attract junior people. If you have experience and ain't afraid of talking to clients... You cut the middleman and work with foreign clients directly.

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#128

Post by ivanmontillam »

nomdep wrote: post #108
ivanmontillam wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, but do you realize that's tax evasion in Argentina? By law[0], all foreign income must be converted into ARS (Argentinian Peso) using the Government rate/bank rate. And yes, I meant "tax evasion", not "tax avoidance". "Tax evasion" the illegal version of the topic. -- [0]: https://maxifirtman.medium.com/gu%C3%ADa-definitiva-para-cob... (in Spanish)

However the employees choose to convert their dollar salaries is their responsibility, not the employer's

So, it's not the employer's responsibility to comply with the law? :-)

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#129

Post by [deleted] »

wefarrell wrote: post #39
bberenberg wrote: post #11

Seems cool. How much coaching do you have for US companies to better understand the team's local culture issues? For example, I worked with teams in Brazil in the past and while they were smart, kind, etc they were slow in every sense of the word. They didn't have the US culture of respond quickly, unblock people, get shit done, etc. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact working slower may be a benefit, but the…

Brazilians tend to take two hour lunches without work interruptions. Outside of that time, the ones I have worked with have been fast and responsive. Had I not known that I too probably would have thought they were slow and unresponsive. I figured that out by actually going down there and working with them for a week. As far as the "unlbock people, get shit done, etc..." I think that's the case with a lot of outsourc…

[deleted]

Re: Launch HN: Astro (YC W21) – Build your own dev teams in Latin America

#130

Post by lincolnParkKid »

sebleon wrote: post #118
FrankLicea wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We kept encountering the same issues you mention. Our teammates weren't satisfied with the outsourcing company and didn't like being interleaved between projects (formally or informally). And with negotiating down lower rates, the clients they tended to attract weren't exactly tech companies, which was uninspiring for our latam teammates. We believe that by providing a platform that lets tech companies provide a prem…

Dude - it's way better for companies to hire developers directly, no need for a middle man like Astro that's charging 15% (eg. 15% of $80k/yr = $12k/yr in middle man fees)... platforms like letsdeel.com or remote.com charge as little as $50/mo per person to take care of compliance and payroll

Have you ever had to deal with paying salaries in local currencies in many countries, with all the legal/tax implications in countries like Argentina and Venezuela with ramping inflation and multiple legal currency exchange rates? Maybe if you need one you are better off doing it yourself but if you are going to build a team and want to avoid dealing with all that crap this model sounds interesting at least
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