Alfa Jango pairs techies with start-ups in need of them

People with ideas for start-ups aren't looked upon with disdain by the people at Alfa Jango, an Ann Arbor-based company that specializes pairing CTOs and tech teams with start-ups that need them. Idea people are often sneered at by computer programmers and other software professionals as dreamers. Steve Schwartz, managing member of Alfa Jango, doesn't totally disagree with that sentiment but believes there is a grey area for proven business people with good ideas for technical products but lack the expertise to make it happen. Schwartz wants to his company to be a part of those start-ups by providing the back-end technical expertise. "We basically come in as the CTO and development team," Schwartz says. "The idea that a start-up needs a full-time CTO to be successful is what we're disproving." Alfa Jango, which calls the Tech Brewery home, takes a stake in the start-ups it partners with instead of trying to take billable hours. So when a start-up comes to his team saying they have so much money to spend on such a product, Schwarts is free to tell them what would best help their start-up. "Half of my day is spent telling my clients how they can't give me money," Schwartz says. "We're more interested in the long-term success of the company and how to keep billable hours low." So far Alfa Jango is working with a handful of start-ups today, including Ann Arbor-based CrowdJuice and Seattle-based Care Code. That has allowed Schwartz to grow his development team to about a half dozen people. He is in the process of hiring three software developers right now. Source: Steve Schwartz, managing member of Alfa Jango Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.