Over and over, Brian Flood and his colleagues at Covintus, a Richmond software consultancy, heard the same story.
It went like this: Mid-stage entrepreneur invests limited funds in software. Software is more expensive and time-consuming than expected, then doesn’t work. After overspending on technology, entrepreneur tries to convince investors to contribute more funding. Investors balk.
“You don’t want that to happen to you if you’re an entrepreneur,” said Flood, Covintus co-founder and vice president of operations.
The reason Covintus heard that story repeatedly is because it quite often ended with a request: can you fix this?
Founded in 2010, Covintus offers consulting services and builds custom software for companies ranging from Fortune 500 giants to startups. The company guarantees both cost and timeline, using a unique model. They work with top developers and coders who have demonstrated their skills in international programming competitions.
With these stories in mind, Covintus recently launched its new offering: Covintus Technical Advisory Support Services.
“We said, ‘Let’s get ahead of that, and let’s try to help people, if nothing else; and let’s try to educate them a little bit and be a partner for them to ask the right questions and to be their advisor,’” Flood said.
The service provides a trusted advisor, someone who can weigh in on technical topics ranging from a buy versus build analysis to road mapping and budgeting. The service is best geared toward early- to mid-stage startups that are revenue positive and pre-Series A funding.
The support starts at $1,500 for up to 10 hours of consulting each month, with tiered options for entrepreneurs who need additional support. Services Covintus can provide range from serving as a sounding board for technology decisions to fielding technology questions during a client presentation.
“We try to prevent big mistakes. We try to ask the right questions and educate the client,” Flood said. “A big part of our time is actually spent educating and sharing with them why we are asking questions of the vendor or of their technical resources or of them.”
Flood said overspending on technology is a major reason startups fail. Overspending can mean a company is sinking more money than is necessary into tech or spending on technology that the company doesn’t yet need.
To see a startup fail for avoidable reasons is “heart-breaking,” he said.
The Technical Advisory program gives Covintus the ability to ask “all those basic questions that seem like second nature to us, in our business,” Flood said.
Companies interested in Technical Advisory Support Services can contact Covintus here.