I’d like to clarify that by “outsourcing” I meant dev teams which you as a founder can not either manage, nor influence or actually giude/support/answer questions quickly.
I believe that the magic happens right when someone joins the team - in the best case it motivates better communication and mutual interest in the end result.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that individual characteristics are far more important than whether somebody is salaried or contract.
But for myself as a rule I defined that salaried team members are in most cases more motivated for a long successful releationship and care about the project more.
Also, lets not forget that when we are talking about doing a startup, core members need tobhave more motivation than just a wire trsnafer at the end of the month.
Best practices for motivating startup team members are not anything new.
I am just saying that at the end of the day from my experience it is much easier to find more caring and willing to think deep abour the project from among full time employees compared to outside contractors some of which may not need to remember your name since its "just a 160 hours project".
I only have 60ish years left on this earth at most. If you think I'm giving you 40ish hours a week of them merely in exchange for money I can get from someone else then you have a lot to learn about how people work.
And I am sure many people attend work not only for money.
Problem is that many who work in outsourcing do the opposite - they attend work, to get money, to exchange it for goods and comfort.
So in this picture there is not much place for "being proud" and respecting the project you are on.
I agree.
But I also am certain that unicorns are usually still not built when everything goes perfect.
That's what makes them unicorns.