A potential client of mine contracted me to upgrade their loans app, I looked at it and told him that building from scratch may be the easiest route, but he insisted I work on the existing project.
When I asked for the code base he had no idea where it was and paid in full for it.
I asked what were the terms of their contract with the developer and he said he was supposed to handover it to them upon receipt of final payment.
Developer doesn’t want to handover the app because he wants a retainer by force.
I stepped aside for them to finish their thing first 😄
A client paid a developer ₦800k to build his app.
Two years later, the developer took the code down.
Just like that. App gone. Business gone.
The client thought he owned it because he paid for it.
He didn’t.
Here’s what most people don’t understand about software development:
Paying for something to be built and owning what was built are two completely different things.
When you pay a contractor to build your house, you own the house. That’s how physical things work.
Code doesn’t work like that.
By default…legally, the person who writes the code owns the code.
Not you. Not your company. The developer.
Unless you have a contract that explicitly transfers intellectual property rights to you, your developer can:
– Take the codebase and walk
– Sell it to someone else
– Shut down access and demand more money
– Rebuild the same thing for your competitor
And they’re not doing anything illegal. Because legally, it was always theirs.
This happens more than people talk about.
Startups discover their developer owns their entire backend after a fallout.
Business owners lose years of customer data because they never had the source code.
Companies pay twice, once to build, once to rebuild from scratch because they skipped one conversation about IP.
If you’re a founder, a product manager, or you’re hiring a developer right now before work starts, your contract needs to say:
• All intellectual property created under this agreement is transferred to the client upon final payment.
That one sentence.
If the developer won’t sign it, that’s information.
Developers too this is also why your contract matters.
Be clear about what you’re handing over and what you’re not. Spec out what’s custom-built vs what’s built on libraries you’ll reuse. The IP conversation protects both sides.
The handshake deal era is over.
Money changes people. Relationships end. Businesses pivot.
What protects you is paper.
You paid for the app.
Make sure you own it.
After participating in about 15 hackathons, winning 12 across both national and international stages, judging hackathons, and mentoring a full team that went on to win, I’ve learned a lot from both wins and losses.
Some of the hackathons I’ve won include Microsoft-organized hackathons, Càvistà, Squad, HelpMum, Fusion Fest Tech, Cardano, AI for Social Impact, Sui, Remostart, and the Cyber AI Hackathon organized by the American Society of Engineers.
I put together something practical from all of this experience. Real lessons that actually matter in hackathons, from how to approach a problem, build the right team, pitch properly, handle demos, and position your solution in a way judges actually understand.
If you’re participating in hackathons, this will really help you think differently and strategize better.
Good luck in your future hackathons 🚀
dev.to/ladipo_samuel_…
Hey techies !!
I'm looking to connect with people interested in:
→ Frontend
→ Backend
→ Full Stack
→ DevOps
→ LeetCode
→ AI/ML
→ Data Science
→ UI/UX
→ Freelancing
→ Startups
Say hi & let's grow together 👋
🚀 Hey @X algorithm — help me find my people.
I’m connecting with builders, developers, and founders who are obsessed with creating things on the internet.
Especially if you’re into:
• Frontend Development
• Backend Systems
• Full-Stack Engineering
• DevOps & Cloud
• App Development
• SaaS Products
• AI / Machine Learning
• Freelancing
• Startups
• Building in Public
I love meeting people who:
→ ship fast
→ learn constantly
→ share ideas openly
→ build real products
→ talk tech, AI, startups, and growth
If that sounds like you:
👇 Reply with what you’re building
🔁 Repost to help more builders connect
🤝 Follow me and I’ll follow back
Let’s build an amazing tech network together.
#BuildInPublic#AI#Programming#WebDevelopment#SaaS#Startups#DevOps#MachineLearning#IndieHackers
@Dev_JesseMaduka I love containers 😀 although I don't use it every time like when doing little projects but when I'm doing something robust I just use containers abeg I no want dey figure out why code dey work for dev but e no dey work for production 🥲
Hey
@X
I’m looking to #connect with people interested in:
• Frontend
• Backend
• Full-stack
• DevOps
• App Development
• SaaS
• AI / ML
• Data Science
• LeetCode & DSA
• Freelancing
• Startups
• Building in public
If that’s you, let’s connect
I hope it's work
Hi I want to connect with people who love:-
- Coding
- vibe coding
- Full stack developer
- software engineer
- AI/ML -Building Projects
- Upload facts on x
- Doing DSA
IF YOU'RE INTO TECH..
LET'S CONNECT
Day 130 - 136 of #365DaysOfCode ⚡️
Been busy with a confidential client project 😭
Client said “use Next.js” so I had to lock in fr.
Spent the past few days learning and building with it…
And ngl, Next.js is actually clean 😮💨
• File-based routing
• Better performance
• Cleaner structure
• Faster dev workflow
Active and building. 🚀
#buildinpublic#NextJS