A pilot’s pre-flight checklist contains no thrilling surprises. It asks whether the fuel, controls, instruments, and route have been checked before the aircraft leaves the ground. That is precisely why it works. A founder interviewing a SaaS developer needs the same kind of unglamorous protection: a small set of questions that makes hidden assumptions visible while everyone is still safely in the meeting.

Begin with evidence that resembles your difficult parts, not merely your industry. Ask, “Which SaaS product have you worked on that is most similar to this, what did you personally own, and what went wrong?” The final clause matters. Anyone can describe the intended architecture; experienced developers remember migrations that misbehaved, integrations that changed, and usage patterns nobody predicted. Listen for clear boundaries around their contribution rather than a vague claim to everything shown in the portfolio.

Next, test how they reduce uncertainty. Ask, “What would you remove from this first release, and what information do you need before estimating it?” A useful answer identifies the core user journey and names assumptions. A suspiciously precise schedule delivered after a ten-minute description may simply be a sales number. Follow with, “How will changes affect cost and timing, and how will we approve them?” Scope always moves; the process for moving it determines whether the project bends or breaks.

Security deserves plain language. Ask where production data will live, how accounts and permissions will work, how secrets are stored, how backups are tested, and what happens if a vulnerability appears. You are not trying to perform a technical examination. You are checking whether security enters the conversation before launch. A strong developer can explain the principles and trade-offs without hiding behind acronyms or promising that a framework makes the product secure automatically.

Ownership and access should be settled before there is anything valuable to lose. Ask who will control the source-code repository, cloud account, domain, payment processor, database, and third-party services. Ask whether another developer could run the product from the documentation if the relationship ended. The healthiest answer puts company-critical accounts under the company’s control and treats handover as part of normal delivery, not as a hostile possibility.

Then ask how the work will remain visible. What will be demonstrated each week? Where are decisions recorded? How quickly are blocked questions raised? What happens when a milestone is late? Communication should produce evidence of progress, not a stream of reassuring messages. A short review of working software exposes misunderstanding far earlier than a monthly percentage-complete report, especially when the founder cannot inspect the code directly.

Finally, ask what happens after the apparent finish line: who deploys the product, monitors it, fixes urgent defects, maintains dependencies, and supports the next developer? The aim is not to find someone with a perfect answer to every question. It is to observe whether they recognise the whole life of a SaaS product and make risk discussable. A good interview leaves both sides with fewer illusions. That may feel less exciting than a confident promise, but it is a much safer condition in which to begin.