How do you know if your developer actually understands your business?
Not your tech stack.
Your business.
I’ve worked with founders who hired developers based entirely on technical skills.
The developer knew React. The developer knew AWS. The developer had 5 years of experience.
Six months later, the product was technically solid and completely wrong for the market.
The developer built exactly what was asked for.
But never questioned whether what was asked for was the right thing to build.
Here are 3 signs a developer actually gets your business.
- Sign 1: They ask about your revenue model before your feature list.
A developer who understands business wants to know how you make money before they start building.
Because the revenue model shapes every technical decision.
Subscription billing requires different architecture than one-time payments.
Marketplace commissions require different infrastructure than direct sales.
- Sign 2: They push back on features that don’t serve users.
A developer who just says yes to everything is not a good sign.
The ones who add value are the ones who say “we could build that, but your users probably need this instead” and explain why.
- Sign 3: They mention edge cases you haven’t thought of.
“What happens if two users edit the same record?”
“What if a payment fails halfway through checkout?”
“What if your API provider goes down?”
If your developer raises these questions before you do, they’re thinking about your product.
Not just your tickets.
Here’s the flip side.
Three red flags:
- They only talk about frameworks and tools.
- They never ask why a feature matters.
- They estimate without asking questions first.
What’s the number one thing you look for when hiring a developer?
Curious what founders prioritize.