When I meet with new clients, there’s a question I ask in our very first meeting: Do you own your code?
You’d be surprised how many people don’t know.
It’s an easy thing to miss. Maybe you hired an agency to build your app or site. The project went fine for a while. Months or years later, you need updates, want to switch vendors, or bring development in-house and that’s when things seem to get messy.
A few years ago, I met a team who needed a mobile app rebuilt, and they needed it fast. Their original vendor had closed shop, and they were looking for someone to take over. Normally, that would’ve been a pretty easy handoff. We’d pick up where the last team left off and keep things moving.
But they didn’t own the source code. The agency they worked with said it was proprietary and wouldn’t release it. That meant starting from scratch. They had already spent over $200,000 building the app. Rebuilding put them right back at square one.
They weren’t careless or naïve. They just didn’t know what to ask or look for in the contract.
We worked with a client whose site looked fine on the outside. But behind the scenes, they were stuck. Their original developer had built the whole thing in a custom setup that no one else could really touch. No documentation. No shared access. No version history. Just a bunch of one-off fixes that only the original developer understood.
Every time they needed a small update, they had to wait days or sometimes weeks and pay way more than it should’ve cost. They weren’t being unreasonable. They just wanted to be able to add a button, update their own hours or swap out a photo without opening a support ticket.
When they came to us, they were ready to move on. But they couldn’t take anything with them. We had to rebuild from scratch just so they could regain control.
If you’re in the middle of a build, or considering one, here are a few things worth double-checking:
At APAX, we’ve always taken the position that your code should belong to you. We’re building your product, not ours. And if you ever want to move on, from us, or from the product itself, you should have the freedom to do that.
It’s your business. You should own what drives it.
Here’s how that works in practice. This quickstart guide will help you as you meet with potential partners.
You own your code when:
This setup protects you from vendor lock-in. It keeps your software useful even if your team changes or your roadmap shifts. You never have to start from zero again.
These questions help you figure out if you're set up to truly own your code:
You deserve clear answers. If you get vague replies, it's a sign to pause.
At APAX, code ownership is part of how we work. That means:
We don’t build things so you’ll need us forever. We build them so you’re free to grow.
