Hiring a dev team can feel like a gamble. Too many founders end up with code that doesn’t scale, projects that drag for months, or teams that ghost after the first milestone.
After shipping dozens of MVPs and integrations at Devtrios, we’ve seen a clear pattern: the best projects start with the right questions.
Here are the 3 you should always ask before you sign that contract.
1. Can they explain trade-offs clearly?
Any dev team can throw buzzwords at you. The real test is whether they can explain why they recommend a stack or approach, in plain English.
- Can they compare Next.js vs WordPress for your use case?
- Can they tell you when a feature is worth building now vs later?
- Do they explain risks and technical debt openly?
If not, expect surprises down the road.
2. How do they handle scope creep?
Scope always shifts. The question is whether your team has a process for it.
- Do they run agile sprints with clear deliverables?
- Is there a change-control process, or does every “quick tweak” delay launch?
- Do they give you visibility (Jira, Trello, Slack updates), or do you just get radio silence until deadline day?
A good dev partner is transparent. Bad ones vanish until it’s too late.
3. Do they build for scale or for the demo?
This one is critical. A quick MVP is fine, but if the code is a spaghetti demo, scaling later is a nightmare.
Ask:
- Are they writing production-ready code (tests, CI/CD, security basics)?
- Do they design the architecture with growth in mind (modular, cloud-ready)?
- Can they show you past projects that scaled beyond prototype stage?
Because fixing shortcuts later is always more expensive than building it right from the start.
You don’t need to be a developer to spot a good dev team. These 3 questions reveal whether they’re builders you can trust—or freelancers who’ll leave you with a mess.
At Devtrios, we’ve helped startups, enterprises, and SaaS teams avoid these pitfalls. If you want to see how we approach projects, check out our case studies or connect with us directly.
Do they design the architecture with growth in mind (modular, cloud-ready)?
Can they show you past projects that scaled beyond prototype stage?
Because fixing shortcuts later is always more expensive than building it right from the start.
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