Buyer's Guide
VENDOR RED FLAGS
(10 SIGNS YOU'LL GET A DECK, NOT SOFTWARE)
You already know what you want built. Here's how to tell, before you sign, whether a shop will build it or bury it in a discovery phase.
1010
questions to ask before you sign anything
Why This Matters
Hiring the wrong shop doesn't just cost the invoice. It costs the quarter, and your idea comes back as something you didn't ask for. People who've been burned by agencies describe the same pattern: a long discovery phase, a strategy deck, a platform they can't leave, and a team they never met. Every flag below is a version of that.
The short version: a good partner starts from what you already have, builds in your systems, puts the code in your repository from the first commit, and lets you leave with all of it. If a shop can't say yes to all four, keep looking.