4 Steps to Building an Unstoppable Offshore Dream Team in 24 Hours

April 26, 2018 5 min read

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In our digital era, workforces are more mobile and agile than ever before. The old model of hiring a herd of nine-to-fivers is quickly becoming obsolete; instead, specialist contractors are assembling across continents and time zones to form highly-effective, digitally-connected ninja teams that move needles in a business.

Vinicius Aschidamini, entrepreneur and member of The Oracles, specializes in just that. As an Italian and Brazilian citizen, as well as an Indian and U.S. resident, Aschidamini is a bona fide global citizen — and a master at building overnight talent units for blue-chip companies.

His company, Incredible Visibility, has helped businesses from Sand Cloud (who made a deal on “Shark Tank” with Robert Herjavec) and The Discovery Channel to luxury automaker Alfa Romeo source talent offshore with peace of mind. In a matter of hours, Aschidamini can pool together top-tier resumes and form well-oiled offshore teams for any industry, from marketing to tech development—regardless of the project brief. For example, Incredible Visibility created the “KashHero” banking app from scratch within six months for the digital currency platform, iCertify.

Aschidamini knows something about the re-invention of teams and workspaces. He’s worked across time zones for over a decade. Incredible Visibility started in India as part of Technopark, the largest IT park in Asia. Now, Aschidamini uses his insider experience to help other entrepreneurs. “There’s a deep knowledge deficit among companies around how to build effective teams,” he shares. “We aim to fix that.”

From the mind of the ultimate sourcing guru, here are four tenets of building a winning offshore team, all while cutting costs and fast-tracking results.

1.Think global for what you need.

Aschidamini believes in the power of a competitive labor force. “By opening up your labor force and going offshore, you slice costs—allowing you to build an elite scalable team for the same budget as one or two local employees.” Companies become more nimble when they aren’t locked into paying the fixed overhead of full-time salaries.

Hiring in tech-centered cities can also be expensive for a startup. “In Los Angeles, you might pay a senior engineer $12,000 a month. But an expert engineer abroad may perform the job better, at half or less that quote.”

Hiring temp-to-perm talent offshore also helps companies scale quickly. “You can scale down rapidly or ramp up within one to 30 days,” says Aschidamini. Onboarding processes that normally take weeks can be fast-tracked. “A partner company like us, with infrastructure and HR already taken care of—for example, sourcing the building, desks, a secure network, and qualified talent—within days.” This gives growing companies ultimate adaptability and peace of mind, while saving precious time. 

2. Protect your data and IP like NASA or the CIA.

A key element to managing offshore teams is maintaining the integrity of a company’s products and services. According to Aschidamini, this can be challenging when you’re working across time zones in countries with different intellectual property laws.

“Some companies use third-party web-based platforms to source talent. The problem with that is there’s no accountability. You risk helping a remote freelancer leave your company for a competitor once they’ve built their portfolio with you. You could lose vital data on the freelancer’s machine—source files, contacts, passwords, plans—which is frustrating or impossible to retrieve.”

So, when setting up offshore teams, Aschidamini insists it’s essential to have the infrastructure, HR, and security protocol in place. Having these at your disposal enables scalability and a sense of company presence in your offshore region. 

3. Pop-up infrastructure is your friend.

In today’s era of rented spaces, Airbnb, and floating offices, not as many people are commuting to the company headquarters; instead, they’re connecting digitally from across the world. “Companies still need basic infrastructure in place,” explains Aschidamini, who stresses the importance of getting your company’s organizational process airtight before hiring talent.

“A company like ours can launch your branch office with no setup cost or time investment. Hardware, infrastructure, IT, HR, and legal are all taken care of.” Aschidamini’s team even invests in offshore company culture, sponsoring boating events and team-building activities at their international work-hubs so contractors can still feel a sense of company identity.

4. Hire specialists, not generalists. 

A recent study predicted that the majority of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers by 2027. Aschidamini believes that employers should use this trend to their advantage. “The worst thing you can do is hire one person to do everything,” says Aschidamini. “Instead, hire a team of specialists for your requirements rather than one employee in all required positions. Hire for a specific skill-set rather than a generic role. While this approach seems expensive, if done right, it slices costs and skyrockets efficiency while maintaining a sustainable workflow.”

Ultimately, with the rise of the digital “my gig” economy, the hiring playing field has been leveled. Companies no longer need to restrict their talent pool to a geographic location. With the right partners and processes, hiring offshore can be more cost-effective, productive, and efficient than hiring locally. For Aschidamini, it’s the future of work.