Outsourcing can work. But most founders evaluate teams like they're hiring a lawn service, not building their entire product.
Here's what actually matters:
Process clarity – Can they explain sprints, testing, deployments without buzzword soup?
Technical justification – Why this stack? If they can't explain trade-offs, they don't understand them.
Communication structure – Who's your contact? Daily updates or weekly surprises?
Documentation standards – Will you actually own clean code and docs, or get a mess you can't maintain?
Post-launch support – What happens when bugs show up at 9pm on a Saturday?
The biggest red flag? Teams that say "yes" to everything.
"Can you build this in 2 weeks?" Yes. "Can you add blockchain?" Yes. "Can it also make coffee?" Probably yes.
A good dev partner pushes back. They tell you when your idea is expensive, overcomplicated, or solving the wrong problem.
For those who've outsourced - what question did you wish you'd asked before signing? What would've saved you months of pain?