One of the first things other developers and entrepreneurs ask me when I talk about products I’ve created over the years and the specific methods I use to get from an idea to an actual tangible product is how a kid from Nashville managed to put together a global network of designers and developers. I always feel the answer is never as simple as they would believe.

How I Connected with Europe

I have developed products as three companies over the years. I started with JennisMedia. It was a modest start up that I was fortunate enough to create a product concept that had a market. It was 1996 and I found IRC chat rooms the easiest forum to connect with others who were doing the same development work I was doing. It was within IRC that I met two very important contacts that held the key to tapping into very inexpensive developers in Europe. The first contact I met was Jergen Groesbeck, a developer from the Netherlands. Jergen immediately started introducing me to other fellow programmers in the Netherlands. Through this network, I was able to build a strong contact list of designers and developers in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and beyond. The other contact was Slava Vorotaev. Where Jergen was strongly connected in Western Europe, Slava was the man amongst developers in the old Soviet Bloc.

Outsourcing

Quickly, I found myself presented with the option of outsourcing significant amounts of development to small development groups located in countries like Poland, Ukraine and Estonia. Several of my early development partners went on to work for a little start up called Skype (I’m not one bit jealous about it either. Ok, maybe a little). It was a very successful process for me. I opened myself up to the idea of not having 100% control and in return I got products that were well built and matched specs. Now, many will knock this method of getting the work done, but when you’re a entrepreneur on a budget you have to look for every competitive advantage available. Working through cheap overseas was the price I was willing to pay to get ahead. And get ahead I did.

The Fall and Rise

For several years, it felt like shipping work over the Eastern Europe was a dying trend. I was convinced it was dead the day I learned of European shops outsourcing their work to Bangalore. But, with the rise of the Euro and Eastern European countries still on their old currencies, their money suddenly didn’t go as far as it once did. Combine this with the fact that Twitter’s success has brought developers from around the world into conversations that they would never had participated with otherwise and outsourcing to Eastern Europe is on the rise again. Its easier now to procure talent from overseas than it was when I first started doing it over a decade ago.

Getting Connected

If you really want to connect with cheap global development options, here is how I might go about doing it in 2009: The first step has to be getting involved in Twitter. Finding developers who seem to share a common development philosophy is a huge first step. Once you’ve connected on Twitter, Skype is an absolute requirement. You may user Google Talk/Grand Central, AIM or another IM product, but the overwhelming majority of European programmers are on Skype first and foremost. Skype also provides a cheap communications tool to those countries where you might otherwise rack up huge phone charges really quick. The third tool you must have is PayPal. You have to pay them somehow and even though they lose 3% with PayPal, they know its about the only way to securely get money into Eastern Europe, especially Russia and Ukraine.

Now that you’ve connected with some developers, if you want to have a long term relationship where everyone is on the same page, then pack your bags. The face to face meeting is essential to the success of any long distance development partnership. It always help if you’re a seasoned traveler who doesn’t appear out of place when you meet your new contact in Moscow’s Red Square or by Charles Bridge in Prague. You’re new contact will be impressed that you’ve traveled the distance to formally secure the relationship, but doing so like a tourist will be a sure sign of how green you truly are as a global developer.

Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out if you are an entrepreneur looking to get ahead. Nobody’s going to fault you for doing what you have to do to succeed. Once you have succeeded in your venture, that is the time to start bringing more work to people in your backyard. You may decide that you would rather have everything local. You have a better chance of maintaining full control over your projects. It will come at some cost though.

If your interested in making European connections, check out my first European partners @groesbeck and @slavav on Twitter.