What is the difference between an app that costs $30k vs. $300k per year to maintain?
In many cases, it could be due to your technology stack.
And I know this because over the last 8 years my businesses have built apps that have cost both ends of this range to maintain. For the last 5 years, Baseline (the tech stack for startups) has been the defining factor in how we’ve managed to reduce the initial and ongoing costs for our clients by 10x.
But Baseline aside, here’s how Tech Stack Impacts on Bottom Line.
When I discuss Baseline’s tech stack, I’m referring to a comprehensive developer tool that provides a combination of technologies and processes which forms the backbone of an application. It’s important to clarify that Baseline’s offering is not a SaaS product or a platform.
Let’s look at two of our clients – one who used Baseline and one who did not. Both are in the same industry with very similar product offerings. Here are the costs incurred by each:
The data clearly shows significant savings in development, maintenance, and operational costs for the startup using Baseline from the outset. But why?
Compared to client A, Client B spent ⅓ as much and launched their MVP in a shorter time, due to less developer resources being required for the same amount of work. The reason for this is due to the functionality Baseline provides out of the box such as an Admin Web app and an end user web and mobile app, Infrastructure as code, developer processes and Stripe payment gateway integration. Ultimately, this meant developers for Client B began developing new features from day 1, whereas developers for client A had to focus on setting up the technical foundation first.
Client B’s monthly hosting bill is less than 4% of Client A’s 🤯. Why? Interestingly, this has less to do with the cloud provider and is actually due to the use of serverless and cloud native technologies in Baseline’s tech stack. This type of technology allows you to consume the cloud like a utility: you only pay for what you actually use. Alternatively, Client A uses legacy cloud tools which requires you to set up and maintain infrastructure for your maximum usage periods, which is only required a small percentage of the time.
For a very similar product, Client B requires ⅓ as many resources to maintain their product and launch new features. This is because Baseline is a fullstack application, meaning one developer can complete all tasks. In contrast, client A requires different skillsets tailored to infrastructure management, front end, back end etc. etc.
Each of these factors contributes to a massive difference of 10x the total cost of ownership for client A vs. client B per year.
Startups using a tech stack like Baseline not only benefit from a robust and scalable technical infrastructure but also enjoy cost savings that allows for greater focus on strategic growth, such as through reinvestment into sales, marketing or other headcount.
Need some guidance for your tech startup or project? Book a free consult with me.