Founders
Notes for founders on hiring, cost and checking a codebase without reading it.
Projects
No project write-ups here yet.
Notes
-
Founders1 min read
Should I hire a developer or use AI to build my product?
A founder asked me last week: “Should I hire a developer or use AI to build my product?” My answer: both. But not the way you think.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
5 products I shipped in the last 12 months
5 products I shipped in the last 12 months. Not a portfolio. Not a resume.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
Six questions to check a codebase without reading it
You can’t read code. That’s fine. You can still evaluate whether your codebase is healthy or a ticking time bomb. You just need to ask the right questions.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders2 min read
The most expensive hire is the second developer
The most expensive hire a startup founder makes isn't the first developer. It's the second one. The one hired to fix what the first one built. I've seen this pattern repeat so many times it's almost predictable.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
What a $5K MVP actually costs
A founder told me his MVP cost $5,000. Six months later, he’d spent another $35,000 rebuilding it because it couldn’t handle real users.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders2 min read
One senior developer or a $40,000-a-month agency
I talked to a founder who was paying $40,000 a month to an agency. He still couldn’t get a feature shipped in under 6 weeks.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
The freelance developer market is splitting into two tiers
The freelance developer market is splitting into two tiers. - Tier 1: $10 to $20 per hour.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
The recommendation I didn’t ask for
A few months into a contract, the client who brought me in wrote a recommendation on LinkedIn. Unsolicited. I didn’t ask for it.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
How do you know if your developer understands your business?
How do you know if your developer actually understands your business? Not your tech stack. Your business.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
Your developer says the MVP is 90% done
Your developer says the MVP is 90% done. Here’s what that actually means in real numbers.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders1 min read
5 questions to ask before signing a developer contract
I've worked with founders who signed developer contracts without asking a single technical question. Not because they were careless.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders2 min read
Why 3 developers can ship slower than 1
A startup with 3 developers should move faster than a startup with 1 developer. In theory.
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders2 min read
The one question to ask before hiring a developer
There’s a question I think every founder should ask before hiring a developer. Not about the tech stack. Not about the rate. Not about availability. “Walk me through how you’d approach building this.”
Venus PaneliyaRead -
Founders2 min read
A client who keeps coming back
One of the clients I’ve worked with longest sent me a recommendation a few months ago. We’ve been working together across multiple projects, AI-powered SaaS builds, serverless infrastructure on AWS, and production systems handling real...
Venus PaneliyaRead
Send me your prototype’s link.
I read every message the same day. Then twenty minutes on a call about what breaks first.