To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
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Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#2I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#3I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
I'm working on a new consultant biz, oriented toward "freelance CTO" for early-stage startups. It's general purpose but provide a non-technical client a better view of the technical aspects of their product. I'm convinced it has a lot of value for this kind of clients.
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#4Very true sentiment in this article. Also a corollary to this would be to deliver based on the value you provide the client, not the time it takes you to complete the problem. I've written about this before on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14942561
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#5I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
What I have seen is that some people/consultants have the ability to talk to C*O or VP level in their own language. Once you get these people to trust you, you can hire people with expertise you need. You can probably also get contracts because of your specific domain expertise but I believe the ability to communicate with high level management is more important for a successful consulting business.
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#6I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
> Is there a market for general purpose software consultants?
Certainly is, as indicated by the continued success of for Accenture, McKinsey Digital, Deloitte Digital, IBM, EY, KPMG, PwC, Aon Hewitt, and probably a million more smaller consultancies and agencies.
Its certainly a suitable career choice if you enjoy a mix of technical solutioning, ideation and development work across a range of clients, geographies and technical domains. The caveats of course being sometimes your skills stagnate or the work-life balance isn't there when comparing service-organisations with product-organisations. But, depending on where you want to build your career, this kind of work for those kinds of places can be quite an accelerator.
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#7I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
I'm working on a new consultant biz, oriented toward "freelance CTO" for early-stage startups. It's general purpose but provide a non-technical client a better view of the technical aspects of their product. I'm convinced it has a lot of value for this kind of clients.
I tried this a bit myself. You are right that you can provide tremendous value, but early-stage startups either don't have, or aren't willing to spend, the money that you deserve for the value you'd provide. Maybe there's a niche you can target that I was unaware of. Hopefully you have more success!
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#8Exceptionally well written, and very believable advice.
Wish I had understood this concept of positioning long ago...
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm working on a new consultant biz, oriented toward "freelance CTO" for early-stage startups. It's general purpose but provide a non-technical client a better view of the technical aspects of their product. I'm convinced it has a lot of value for this kind of clients.
I tried this a bit myself. You are right that you can provide tremendous value, but early-stage startups either don't have, or aren't willing to spend, the money that you deserve for the value you'd provide. Maybe there's a niche you can target that I was unaware of. Hopefully you have more success!
Seems actually a better use case for paying in stock (compared to regular employees). You only work a short time for them, so you can spread your bets more like a VC, and your influence can have a decisive impact on their success, so it's not just a lottery ticket.
Re: To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
#10I think that provable deep expertise in some niche is a pre-requisite to this kind of positioning. Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Who is the target audience?
> Is there a market for general purpose software consultants? Certainly is, as indicated by the continued success of for Accenture, McKinsey Digital, Deloitte Digital, IBM, EY, KPMG, PwC, Aon Hewitt, and probably a million more smaller consultancies and agencies. Its certainly a suitable career choice if you enjoy a mix of technical solutioning, ideation and development work across a range of clients, geographies and…
These companies/people are paid not for their general purpose skills/consulting. They are paid for trust/brand.
"""No one got fired for choosing McKinsey/BCG/Deloitte/IBM/MS etc"""