What you describe is obvious corporate management path. You start with MVP, it gets traction, bosses like you and then others will code for the original author

What you describe is obvious corporate management path. You start with MVP, it gets traction, bosses like you and then others will code for the original author dismantling and rewriting original MVP. And don’t be shy - if one can pull this off he’s worth the credits. There are many who can code and not much who can manage.