If you’re building a product—really building it, with long-term ambitions and quality in mind—you already know that having "some devs" isn’t enough. You need alignment. Ownership. A team that’s thinking beyond tickets.

Over the years, we’ve helped dozens of US-based companies build and scale engineering teams across Latin America. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this:‍

A group of contractors isn’t a team.

Why contractors often fall short

Freelancers can be talented, no doubt. In fact, we’ve worked with some brilliant ones. But when you’re trying to ship consistently, iterate fast, and build something that lasts, the model shows its limits.

  • They often work on multiple projects—so they optimize for output, not outcomes.
  • They rarely share context or build relationships with other team members.
  • Turnover is high—when a better-paying gig appears, they move on.
  • You become the glue, constantly aligning people who don’t feel aligned.

It’s a bit like trying to win a race with five great runners who’ve never met, don’t train together, and aren’t even sure which direction the track goes.

What changes when you build a team

When we started helping companies build nearshore teams, the difference was immediate:

  • Engineers started suggesting improvements instead of just following specs.
  • Product managers had people they could rely on—and trust.
  • Communication became smoother because the team shared context and owned the roadmap.
  • Retention improved drastically, even with remote setups.

And we’re not talking about big, expensive teams. Sometimes it’s just 3 or 4 well-chosen professionals, working in sync, sharing Slack channels, doing retros together, and moving toward the same goal.

We don’t just match talent. We design teams.

One thing we take very seriously when assembling a nearshore team is how people will work together.
It’s not enough to find “a great backend dev” or “a strong QA.” We think about:

  • How they complement each other’s working styles
  • Whether their seniority levels make sense together
  • Who’s going to naturally take ownership, and who brings stability
  • What kind of communication dynamics will emerge in that specific mix

We’ve learned that the chemistry of the group often matters more than the individual strengths.
So we design each team as a unit—not as a list of skills, but as a system that works.

Why Nearshoring works so well for US companies

There’s something uniquely effective about building teams in Latin America for US-based companies:

  • Time zone alignment means real-time collaboration.
  • Cultural compatibility reduces friction.
  • High technical quality meets more accessible rates.
  • And if done well, you can build a team that feels local—even if they’re thousands of miles away.

We’ve seen companies go from one or two engineers to full product squads with PMs, designers, and QA, all nearshored and working as an extension of the core team.

It’s not just about saving money. It’s about building better.

Yes, nearshoring can save you money compared to hiring locally but the real win isn’t cost—it’s cohesion.

A team that knows each other, understands the product, communicates clearly, and cares about the outcome will always outperform a group of solo contributors, no matter how talented they are.

What we’ve learned

After years of building distributed teams, here’s what we’ve found works best:

  • Treat remote professionals as part of the team from day one.
  • Keep time zones close when you need collaboration.
  • Invest in long-term relationships instead of rotating talent.
  • Design teams holistically—not just by role, but by fit.
  • Partner with people who understand the legal and HR side, so you don’t have to.

We’ve seen this model work for early-stage startups and growing SaaS businesses alike. And once it clicks, most founders we talk to say the same thing:

‍“I wish we had done this earlier.”

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