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Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by rtx on Saturday August 01, 2020 @01:16PM (#24022155)
Your comment comes off as xenophobic. I know it's acceptable in tech circle to talk this way, but not cool.
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by dctoedt on Saturday August 01, 2020 @01:27PM (#24022253)
That's not xenophobia, which is dislike or fear of foreigners because they're foreign. A lot of people have had similar experiences with offshoring.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobia

Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by beering on Saturday August 01, 2020 @01:25PM (#24022231)
OK, so how do we talk about the prevalence of awful off-shore software-development firms without being "xenophobic"? If you're going to lecture us on how we talk, at least offer an alternative?
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by dragonwriter on Saturday August 01, 2020 @02:12PM (#24022633)
> OK, so how do we talk about the prevalence of awful off-shore software-development firms without being "xenophobic"?

We don't, when the problem under discussion is endemic to outsourcing firms and has no particular connection to their location. The fact that there are lots of outsourcing firms that are, relative to where the demand for their services is, also offshore is completely beside the point.

Raising that irrelevancy is the problem.

Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by gfodor on Saturday August 01, 2020 @05:15PM (#24023966)
Offshore outsourcing tends to be by far the cheapest, hence assuming people will use offshore firms isn’t xenophobia its based on a relatively likely assumption.
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by rimjongun on Saturday August 01, 2020 @02:07PM (#24022593)
No it doesn’t, He mentions His reasoning. Nothing in His reasoning gave off the vibe that he is afraid of others because they are different. ::prays for downvote button::
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by dragonwriter on Saturday August 01, 2020 @02:10PM (#24022621)
> No it doesn’t,

Yes, it does.

If the “offshore” weren't in it, it would be just as accurate and not xenophobic.

Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by pier25 on Saturday August 01, 2020 @02:17PM (#24022673)
"Offshore" is there most likely because it's so common to outsource work to cheaper countries and not because of any xenophobia.
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by johnmcauley on Saturday August 01, 2020 @04:55PM (#24023835)
No xenophobia intended, the same can happen with onshore. But, there is a tendency to jump off shore due to costs and if you are inexperienced it can go very badly. That’s all. I’m experienced and it has gone badly on past experiences.
Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by notxenophobic on Sunday August 02, 2020 @09:14PM (#24033214)
This is a throwaway account.

I have been in companies where we'd outsourced to firms in India. The experience was not good for us, at all. The arm of the company that set up this arrangement, it went under. The offshore firm did not deliver.

I realized what seems to be a cultural thing with folks I'd worked with from offshore firms. They would nearly always exude absolute confidence in their ability to deliver what you'd requested from them, no matter how complex the task.

"Oh yes. Sure. No problem. We will get that done for you. Absolutely, yes. No problem."

You never heard humility in the sense of, "well, I/we aren't experts in _________ but we'll research and get back to you." It was always confidence, to the extreme.

I wonder why this is?

The reality ended up being entirely different. Many times, they had no effin clue. These were with some very big-name offshoring firms.

The flip side to that same coin… the folks from those firms that were genuinely skilled… they weren't in India. They got brought over on visas and were working in the US.

Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by rtx on Monday August 03, 2020 @01:48PM (#24040946)
>I wonder why this is?

Because they were crooks, same as companies promising to protect your privacy and then selling your data. You will not hear anyone saying American tech companies are fraud.

Re:Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder by codegeek on Saturday August 01, 2020 @02:48PM (#24022897)
To be fair to GP, they did say it is ok to work with a direct engineer even if offshore vs offshore agencies that are just looking for a "project". I agree with him and I run offshore teams.