To Build or Not to Build
Practical advice on deciding whether to add a feature to your product, based on experience as a Founder and Advisor building software-driven products.
For founders and technical leads facing the decisions whose consequences are paid in time and money: build or buy, who to hire, and whether what AI built will hold. I've been making those decisions in production for twenty years.
Short-term lending, Nigeria
BlueMoney is a regulated short-term lender in Nigeria. I pivoted a three-founder team out of inventory lending and convinced them to buy mature platforms rather than build from scratch. Launched January 2026 after regulatory delays. Monthly sounding board sessions continue.
Enterprise email processing, global banking
At Inbotiqa, where I was a founding engineer, the platform processes 100,000+ transactional emails daily for global banking at 99.9% availability. Turnaround-time compliance went from 40% to 95%. Same-day close-out from 22% to 85%.
Strategic architecture consulting, India
In 2015, at HDFC Life, I led a serverless/MBaaS platform evaluation, years before it became mainstream. Architected an internal mobile platform enabling policyholders' families to request verified home care for elderly parents. Build-versus-buy at scale.
“Through a genuinely collaborative partnership with Vishal and the Inbotiqa team, we’ve been able to improve, refine and maximise YuDo’s potential. It’s supported our growth, enabled our teams and helped us deliver for our clients consistently. That longevity and value speak volumes about the people behind it. We’re genuinely grateful for the care, support and partnership you’ve shown us over such a long time.”
“Vishal helped us make the right build vs. buy decision under timeline pressure, set up our lending operations with professional SOPs, and continues to be our sounding board as we navigate the real market.”
“We had been looking into developing our tech and dev team. However, we needed advice on how to get started, who to hire, what kind of skills to target, and once we had a pipeline of candidates, how to evaluate their tech skills. Vishal was a phenomenal resource who guided us throughout the process, and then went above and beyond. He is one of the most knowledgeable technology resources that we have come across thus far and will definitely go back to him for further help.”
“Vishal was fantastic in his engagement. He clearly documented the project work, assisted on the project through and through and went above and beyond in delivering to the requirements in a very complex and ambiguous environment. Thanks Vishal for all the help and insights.”
“We had an early prototype that looked great in demos but wasn't production-ready. I was looking for someone who could tell me what was actually broken. Vishal came in as an advisor, reviewed our codebase, and helped us identify our flaws: what to keep, what to cut, and how to build up from the solid parts without a full rewrite. When we pivoted based on customer feedback, he showed us how to integrate new features without breaking what was already working. We shipped two fully working agents and were ready for our first pilot customers.”
“Through a genuinely collaborative partnership with Vishal and the Inbotiqa team, we’ve been able to improve, refine and maximise YuDo’s potential. It’s supported our growth, enabled our teams and helped us deliver for our clients consistently. That longevity and value speak volumes about the people behind it. We’re genuinely grateful for the care, support and partnership you’ve shown us over such a long time.”
“Vishal helped us make the right build vs. buy decision under timeline pressure, set up our lending operations with professional SOPs, and continues to be our sounding board as we navigate the real market.”
“We had been looking into developing our tech and dev team. However, we needed advice on how to get started, who to hire, what kind of skills to target, and once we had a pipeline of candidates, how to evaluate their tech skills. Vishal was a phenomenal resource who guided us throughout the process, and then went above and beyond. He is one of the most knowledgeable technology resources that we have come across thus far and will definitely go back to him for further help.”
“Vishal was fantastic in his engagement. He clearly documented the project work, assisted on the project through and through and went above and beyond in delivering to the requirements in a very complex and ambiguous environment. Thanks Vishal for all the help and insights.”
“We had an early prototype that looked great in demos but wasn't production-ready. I was looking for someone who could tell me what was actually broken. Vishal came in as an advisor, reviewed our codebase, and helped us identify our flaws: what to keep, what to cut, and how to build up from the solid parts without a full rewrite. When we pivoted based on customer feedback, he showed us how to integrate new features without breaking what was already working. We shipped two fully working agents and were ready for our first pilot customers.”
Practical advice on deciding whether to add a feature to your product, based on experience as a Founder and Advisor building software-driven products.
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