5 things I wish startup founders knew before hiring a developer or agency (learned from 3 years and 24+ projects)

I've been building software products for founders and startups as a freelance developer for three years. Before that I watched what happened to several founders who hired agencies.

The pattern was almost always the same: large upfront payment, impressive-looking status reports, and then a final handover where the code was either locked behind the agency's hosting, undocumented, or so tightly coupled to their internal tools that it couldn't be moved without starting over. Founders who spent $15–50K and had nothing they could actually own.

Here are the five things I wish someone had told them — and that I now treat as non-negotiables in my own work:

1. Never pay more than 40-50% upfront

Milestone payments tied to actual deliverables are the industry standard for a reason. If a developer or agency requires 60–100% before writing a line of code, that's a red flag. Payments should be tied to things you can actually see and test — not vague "phases."

2. Ask where the app will be deployed from day one

Will it live on your AWS/GCP/Vercel account, or theirs? If it's theirs, they have leverage over you indefinitely. I've seen founders held hostage by agencies who wouldn't transfer hosting credentials without additional payment. Get this in writing before the project starts.

3. A services contract is not the same as an IP assignment

This surprises a lot of people. A standard freelance services agreement often doesn't explicitly assign copyright to you — it just says the work was done for you. You need a separate IP Assignment Agreement that legally transfers every line of code, every design asset, and every related intellectual property to you as the owner. If they won't sign one, find someone who will.

4. Talk to the actual developer, not a project manager

The person who sells you the project is rarely the person building it. In most agencies, there's a sales/account layer between you and the engineering team. This isn't inherently evil, but it means misalignments sit undetected for weeks. When you work directly with the developer, problems surface in days, not after a $10K sprint.

5. Demand working software every week, not reports

Any competent developer can give you a live staging URL with real, clickable features every Friday. If your weekly update is bullet points and a screenshot, ask why. If there's no good answer, that's a sign of either poor organization or something being hidden.

None of this is complicated. These are basic protections most founders don't know to ask for because software development is opaque to non-technical people, and some developers/agencies benefit from keeping it that way.

Happy to answer questions in the comments — especially if you're currently evaluating developers or mid-project and something feels off.

(Disclosure: I run a small freelance dev studio, Forge Studio, where I apply all of these by default. Mentioning it for context, not as a pitch — the advice above stands regardless of who you hire.)