A quiet way founders lose control of their own product: the code, the hosting, and the database all live under a developer's personal accounts. On paper you own the business; in practice, you cannot touch your own software without them. Here is how to avoid that.
The short answer
Set up every critical account, repository, hosting, database, domain, and key services, under your own organization from day one, and grant developers access rather than letting them own it. Then if anyone leaves, there is nothing to "transfer," because it was always yours.
What you must control
- Code repository. GitHub or similar, under your org. This is the product itself.
- Hosting. Where it runs (Vercel, AWS, etc.), in your account.
- Database. Where your data lives. Losing access here is losing your business.
- Domain. Your web address, registered to you.
- Third-party services. Payments, email, analytics, anything the product depends on.
The right setup from day one
- Create organization-owned accounts for each of the above.
- Invite developers as collaborators, with appropriate access, rather than having them create everything personally.
- Keep the credentials yourself (a password manager helps), even if a developer manages the day-to-day.
Do this at the start and ownership transfer becomes a non-event, because there is nothing to transfer.
If it is already tangled
If a developer set things up under their personal accounts, fix it now, before adding more work. Stand up organization accounts and migrate the repo, hosting, domain, and database. It is mildly annoying today and a potential catastrophe if you wait until a relationship sours.
Ownership is part of a clean handoff
Account ownership is half of truly owning your software; documentation (see what documentation you need) is the other half, and the legal side matters too (see who owns the code). A product simulation is delivered with this in mind: the code and database are set up to be owned by you, so you start in control and stay there.
Want to own your product from day one? Start a project.
Frequently asked
What accounts do I need to own?
At minimum: your code repository (GitHub/GitLab), your hosting (Vercel, AWS, etc.), your database, your domain, and any third-party services the product depends on. All under your organization, not an individual's personal login.
What if a developer already set everything up under their own accounts?
Transfer it as soon as possible: create organization-owned accounts and move the repo, hosting, domain, and database to them. The longer it waits, the riskier it gets. Make it a priority before adding new work.