What’s your biggest red flag when a startup hires an app dev agency?

Source: Dev.to

Red flags when hiring a dev agency (or contractors) for an MVP

• Unrealistic timelines – e.g., “complex app in 2–3 weeks.”
• No discovery phase – “we’ll figure it out as we code.”
• Vague proposals – no clear scope boundaries, no definition of done.
• Inability to meet the actual developers who will build the product.
• No QA plan (or “QA is you”).
• Repository/IP issues – agency wants to own the code, or you don’t get early access.
• Super low pricing with unclear exclusions or hidden change orders.
• Missing post‑launch support – “we deliver and disappear.”

Discussion prompts

1. If you could add one line to every startup contract to avoid pain later, what would it be?
2. What’s the one question that reveals whether a vendor is legit?

Further reading

For context, see the original checklist post that inspired this discussion:
The startup checklist for picking a mobile app dev partner

I’ll summarize the best answers in a follow‑up post (and credit usernames if you’d like).