Phil Alves runs Devsquad to provide high-powered companies with equally high-powered teams of software developers to design and implement software solutions that set them apart in the marketplace. Devsquad’s teams are plug-and-play, meaning companies don’t have to spend precious time and resources to train them or orient them about the product goals. They can work immediately and give you the results you need with lightning speed.
According to the company website, Phil Alves and Devsquad believe that by building great products, “we’re building a better world.” The company works with clients who understands and appreciates the skills and experience it brings to the table. While starting a project, Phil Alves and Devsquad work with the client as business partners, who share mutual goals. Devsquad also doesn’t build products just to turn a profit. The company only works on products they believe in.
Devsquad provides SaaS development solutions to both startups looking to develop quickly and to big companies whose experience demands speed and quality.
Phil Alves went from a teenage coder who developed and sold the widely used Direct Sales CRM software in Brazil to an industry maverick in the United States. After moving to Utah in 2011, Phil worked as a lead developer at a great company. However, he started feeling the itch to run his own team. To scratch this itch, he founded Devsquad.
Today, Devsquad has grown significantly. Throughout its career of building SaaS products for diverse clients, Phil Alves and Devsquad have employed top-notch coding talent in Brazil and Latin America. They have worked together with Devsquad’s US developers in Utah. Both teams of developers follow Devsquad’s philosophy: to write simple code, design intuitive interfaces, and work efficiently while sticking to the plan.
While running his teams, Phil Alves for sure knows a thing or two about effective delegation. Read his tips on the subject below.
Check out more in-depth interviews with business mavericks here.
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Phil Alves: Of course! Currently I’m the CEO of DevSquad and to date we’ve helped to build more than 100 software products. I’m a self-taught software developer originally from Brazil. I first started software development when I was 16 and built my first software product when I was 18 when I founded my first company. After growing and selling that first company, I moved to the US to study and today with DevSquad I work with some big name clients like ADP and Box. Many of DevSquad’s startup clients have gone on to raise $10 million USD after building their MVP with DevSquad.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you please share your “Five Things You Need To Know To Delegate Effectively and Be Completely Satisfied With the Results?” Please share a story or an example for each.
Phil Alves:
- Have trust in others but do verify before sending on work externally. This goes back to my funny story about not checking my team’s code comment. Have trust in what others are doing but if you’re ultimately going to be held accountable, you need to be sure that you checked everything over and that you explained the reasons for doing something clearly to your team.
- Mentorship is very important. When you’re first delegating, you need to be a good mentor too because if you’re giving someone a task to carry out, they need the right information and education in order to do the task well.
- Always remain humble. Often you’re not the best person for the task and it’s important to learn that someone else can do a better job than you. For example, although I’m a developer and coder at heart, I no longer make coding decisions for DevSquad. I hired a great CTO who decides on code and knows better than I do!
- Patience. This goes back to the idea that even if it takes someone else much longer than you to complete a task, it’s essential to be patient and let them do it because it’s the most effective way for them to learn.
- Don’t be a control freak when it comes to method, just focus on results. The way someone gets to or achieves a result isn’t important, the only thing to focus on is that the desired end result is achieved.
Jerome Knyszewski: One of the obstacles to proper delegating is the oft quoted cliche “If you want something done right do it yourself.” Is this saying true? Is it false? Is there a way to reconcile it with the importance of delegating?
Phil Alves: Well, that statement is true if you’re a poor delegator! It all boils down to mentality and sometimes the fact that people are shortsighted and fail to see the bigger picture. There are times when you need to do the task yourself and also times when you need to delegate, it’s about striking the right balance. It’s also important to be flexible; you need to assess what needs doing and adapt to the circumstances.
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Phil Alves: If I could start a movement, it would be to help people understand that you don’t need all the resources in the world to make things happen.Talent and determination always beat unlimited resources so if you’re willing to work hard, you can achieve what you set out to.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Phil Alves: You can follow me on LinkedIn or go to the DevSquad website and have a look at our blog.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
