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How Offshore Hiring Extends Your Startup Runway by 18+ Months

Why smart startups are building global teams — and how you can too. For early-stage startups, cash is oxygen. Every dollar spent — especially on hiring — needs to fuel momentum, not just burn runway.

But with top-tier U.S. talent costs soaring and competition for engineers, designers, and operators intensifying, many startups face a tough tradeoff: grow fast and burn fast, or move slow and conserve cash.

There’s a better way: offshore hiring. Done right, it’s not about outsourcing — it’s about scaling leaner, faster, and smarter.

Let’s unpack how offshore hiring — particularly in high-talent, low-cost markets like Vietnam — can extend your runway by 12 to 24 months (or more), without sacrificing quality or control.

💸 The Real Cost of Hiring in the U.S.

Hiring just one mid-level full-time engineer in the U.S. costs:

• Base salary: $130,000
• Benefits + taxes: $25,000
• Recruiting/onboarding: $10,000+
• Total: $165,000/year

Now multiply that across a team of 5 to 10 key hires. Suddenly, you're burning $800K to $1.5M+ per year — before you've even hit product-market fit.

🌍 Offshore Hiring: The Runway Multiplier

Offshore hiring allows you to tap into global talent at a fraction of U.S. costs — often without compromising on skill, output, or communication.

Example: Hiring in Vietnam

• Mid-level engineer: $30,000–$45,000/year
• Designer or QA: $20,000–$35,000/year
• Marketing/ops talent: $15,000–$30,000/year

That’s 60–80% lower than U.S. rates — and adds up fast.

🔍 Real Startup Math:

Let’s say you planned to hire a 6-person team in the U.S. for a product launch:

Result: You can build the same team for 25% of the cost, and extend your runway by 18–24 months with the same budget.

🚀 The Strategic Benefits Go Beyond Cost

Offshore hiring isn’t just about saving money. It’s about unlocking scale, speed, and flexibility.

• Hire Faster: Global markets like Vietnam have deep talent pools — and shorter hiring cycles. You can often fill roles in 2–3 weeks, not months.
• Build a 24/7 Team: Split teams across time zones to maintain momentum around the clock. Developers in Vietnam can push code while your U.S. team sleeps.
• Preserve Equity: Reduce burn → avoid premature fundraising → maintain control and dilution. Stretching runway means raising on your terms, not out of desperation.
• Test & Iterate More: Cheaper team costs = more shots on goal. You can afford to experiment, fail fast, and pivot without the financial pressure.

⚠️ Common Misconceptions About Offshore Hiring

• Myth 1: “Quality won’t match the U.S.”
  Truth: Countries like Vietnam are producing world-class engineers, designers, and operators — many with degrees from top global universities and experience working with Western companies.
• Myth 2: “Time zones kill collaboration.”
  Truth: With the right async tools and workflows (Notion, Loom, Slack, etc.), remote teams are more productive than ever — especially when overlap windows are built in.
• Myth 3: “It’s a legal nightmare.”
  Truth: Using an Employer of Record (EOR) like VietAssist, you can legally hire full-time remote workers in Vietnam — without setting up a local entity or worrying about compliance.

🧠 Pro Tip: Start Small, Scale Fast

You don’t have to offshore your entire team on day one. Start with:

• 1–2 engineers
• A contract designer
• A virtual ops assistant

Prove the model. Nail your systems. Then scale. You’ll build confidence, save cash, and create a talent engine that scales with your growth.

🏁 Final Thought: Startups Don’t Die From Ambition — They Die From Burn

You may have the right idea, the right market, and the right timing. But if your burn outpaces your traction, it won’t matter. Offshore hiring is your cheat code to extend runway, reduce burn, and keep building.

In a world where every month of survival counts, 18+ months of extended runway could be the difference between "we had a great idea" and "we built a category leader."

✋ Ready to Start Hiring in Vietnam?

At VietAssist, we help U.S. startups:

• Headhunt top Vietnamese engineers and operators
• Handle hiring legally via EOR (no local entity needed)
• Pay and manage remote teams with ease
• Save 60–80% on payroll costs