Hire MVP Developers in 2 Weeks: Agency Checklist for Founders

Days 1–2: Package Your MVP

One-pager: problem, user, core flow, platforms, integrations (Stripe, auth, etc.), deadline, budget range. Attach Figma links or bullet wireframes. Agencies can't quote accurately from a verbal pitch. Include non-goals explicitly — "no admin panel in v1" prevents scope creep in proposals.

Days 3–5: Longlist to Shortlist

Reach out to 5–8 shops; expect 3–4 serious responses. Filter on: shipped apps in your category, fixed-price or capped engagement option, timezone overlap for calls, English/async communication. Drop anyone who won't do a scoping call before sending a number.

• Require 2+ live product links
• Ask average MVP timeline for their last 3 projects
• Confirm senior dev allocation, not just sales engineer on calls
• Check GitHub or portfolio for code quality signals if available

Days 6–10: Compare Proposals

Score proposals on scope alignment, not line-item beauty. Identical prices with different feature lists mean different MVPs. Ask each agency what they cut if timeline is fixed. Red flag: identical boilerplate proposals with your company name swapped in.

Days 11–12: Reference and Contract

One reference call beats ten pages of terms. Ask: did they hit dates, who fixed production bugs, would you hire again? Contract must-haves: IP assignment on payment, escrow or milestone payments, source code in your repo from day one, kill clause, post-launch bug window defined.

Days 13–14: Kickoff Prep

Before kickoff: Apple/Google dev accounts started, domain and email ready, Stripe test mode if payments, analytics tool picked. Founders who arrive empty-handed lose the first sprint to setup. Your job in week three is unblocking decisions, not debating logo color.