We got ProofHQ to Beta for about $15,000, including graphic design, coding, hosting and hardware. We did core coding ourselves – the secret sauce (source?!!) inside the app, and outsourced everything else. We eventually hired the coders in Poland full time.

We wouldn't compromise on quality or cost, so it did take longer than we would have liked, but we were aware of that trade off and maanged through it.

We got ProofHQ to Beta for about $15,000, including graphic design, coding, hosting and hardware. We did core coding ourselves – the secret sauce (source?!!) inside the app, and outsourced everything else. We eventually hired the coders in Poland full time.

We wouldn't compromise on quality or cost, so it did take longer than we would have liked, but we were aware of that trade off and maanged through it.

Probably the best thing is to actually do the coding yourself. If I was lucky enough to find a coder just starting out, and was living in the same country – that would be a best case scenario (although possibly expensive).

Another way of managing the bootstrapping approach, of course, is to find yourself a quality coder at the beginning of his/her career and grow the poduct(s) with them. I know it doesn't always work out (and can be horribly expensive as was the case with the original tech behind MoneySupermarket at floatation) but there are real long term benefits if you can persist as a team.

James