Most early-stage founders don't need a "branding partner." You need a site that converts, loads fast, and ships before your next investor update. Here's how to filter agencies for that reality.
The 3 questions that cut the shortlist in half
Before scheduling a single intro call, send these in an email:
- What is your fixed price and turnaround for a 5-page marketing site?
- Do you write custom code, or assemble templates in a page builder?
- Who owns the codebase after launch?
If you get vague answers, hourly rates, or "it depends" — move on. Real productized agencies have a number and a date.
Pricing model matters more than the price
Hourly billing punishes you for changing your mind. Day-rate retainers punish you for being decisive. Fixed-price, scope-bounded work aligns incentives: the agency wants to ship fast, you know the bill upfront.
Red flags
- A discovery phase longer than the build phase
- No live design review until week 3
- "We'll send a proposal next week" (next week becomes never)
- Stock-template-looking portfolio with logo swaps
- Refuses to commit to a launch date in writing
Green flags
- Public portfolio with live URLs you can inspect
- Lighthouse scores above 90 across the board
- A written launch date in the SOW
- Hands you a git repo, not a CMS login
What "48 hours" actually means
A 48-hour delivery isn't a rushed build — it's a tightly scoped one. You bring brand assets and content; the agency brings a battle-tested component system. Anything outside that scope (custom illustrations, multi-language, complex CMS) gets quoted separately.
If your timeline is "this quarter," shop for monthly retainers. If your timeline is "before our launch tweet on Friday," shop productized.