What questions should I ask an agency before hiring them to build my MVP?
Short answer
Ask twelve questions in four groups: who builds it, what exactly ships, what it costs when things change, and what you own at the end. A good agency answers each one in a sentence and puts the answer in writing. Hesitation on ownership, change requests or who writes the code is the signal to keep looking.
By Kailesk Khumar, founder of HouseofMVPs. Last reviewed .
The twelve questions
| Question | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Who will write the code? | A name, and you can speak to that person |
| How many projects is that person on right now? | A number |
| Can I use something you built? | A live link, with their part of the work explained |
| What will the first version do, exactly? | A feature list with acceptance criteria |
| What is out of scope? | An explicit list, in writing |
| When do I first see it running? | A date for a staging link, well before the end |
| Is the price fixed? | Yes, tied to the scope document |
| What happens when I want to change something? | A written change quote I approve first |
| What happens if you are late? | The remaining payment waits until delivery |
| Who owns the code and when? | You, from the first commit, in your repository |
| What does it run on and who pays for hosting? | Named services, in accounts you control |
| What support is included after launch? | A stated number of days and what it covers |
Questions that sound useful but are not
- How many years have you been in business? Longevity says little about a two week build.
- What is your hourly rate? You are buying an outcome. An hourly rate tells you nothing about the total.
- Do you use the latest technology? Ask instead why they chose the stack for your product.
How to use the answers
Send the questions by email before the call. An agency that replies in writing has already shown you how it communicates. On the call, spend your time on the answers that were vague.
Then check that every answer appears in the contract or the scope document. A promise made on a call and missing from the paperwork is not a promise.
How HouseofMVPs handles this
Our answers, for comparison: the founder writes the code. The scope document lists every feature with acceptance criteria and an out of scope list. A staging link arrives by day 5. The price is fixed at $3,999, $7,499 or from $14,999 depending on tier. Changes become a written quote. Payment is 50% at signature and 50% on delivery, so a late build delays our payment. The repository is yours from day one, and 30 days of support is included.
Get a written scope and fixed priceRelated questions
What is the single most important question to ask an MVP agency?
Who owns the code and when. Everything else can be fixed during the project. If the contract does not assign the code and IP to you, you can end up paying for a product you cannot take elsewhere.
Should I ask for references?
Yes, and call one. Ask the reference what went wrong and how the agency handled it. Every project has a problem, and the answer tells you more than any testimonial.
What if an agency will not give a fixed price?
Ask why. For genuinely open ended research a fixed price may not be possible, and a small fixed price discovery phase is a fair alternative. For a first version with a clear feature list, a refusal usually means the agency wants you to carry the risk of its estimate.
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