Non-technology founders normally need to find a software agency to outsource the development of their version 1 MVP to.
I’ve long held that there’s a general problem in – basically – capitalism in that suppliers are given leeway to learn all the ins and outs of the customer, but customers don’t automatically get the same benefit.
So when you’re shopping around for that agency, the odds are stacked against you when it comes to actually looking under the hood and understanding EXACTLY how they operate, yet you need to know how they operate in order to make an assessment as to whether they are the right partner for you.
Luckily though, this is a bit of a sham because it’s actually very difficult to find customers for bespoke software projects (especially in a down economy) and the reality is that they need you rather more than you need them.
This gives you a decent amount of leeway to “pressure test” any potential vendor, getting you off of the back foot and onto the front foot.