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Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

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Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#231

Post by scifibestfi »

joshmanders wrote: post #119
rtlfe wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried asking for more? If you're actually good at everything you say, you could be making the same amount of cash plus benefits at a FANG, so I'd expect the contracting rate to be much higher.

I also charge a non-refundable down payment of $100k to sign non-compete or NDA and that doesn’t guarantee I’ll accept the job. Both my rates and this keeps people who aren’t serious about working with me away. Anyone else is most likely worth my time and the cost is acceptable because I don’t work a full 40/hr week for the client. I plan the work to be done for a week and let them know. If it takes me 40hrs ok but m…

Has anyone paid the $100k? Or do they all drop the non-compete and NDA?

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#232

Post by philsnow »

gwbrooks wrote: post #169

I do fixed project fees against tight scopes rather than hourly rates. When things go out of scope, it's expensive enough ($250-300/hr) to create a pain point. One thing I don't more of and it surprises me: There's no reason to charge all clients the same rate. If you're solving a five-figure problem for one client and a seven-figure problem for another using basically the same solution, why charge them the same?

> If you're solving a five-figure problem for one client and a seven-figure problem for another using basically the same solution, why charge them the same?

Do you have a script for sussing out the value of solving a problem for any given client?

I guess savvy clients might pretend that it's not all that important/valuable to them, to prevent contractors from bidding it up.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#233

Post by rossnordby »

joshmanders wrote: post #140
candiddevmike wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those drooling at this: you probably don't want this work. The clients who pay this amount are typically soul crushingly bad to work with, and you're under the gun to deliver 10k worth of value both to secure future work with the client and ensure your reputation stays clean. One bad experience can sink you with other clients, folks talk. IMO, build something for you and sell it vs building something for other pe…

This is not accurate at all. I've found people who pay these rates are better to work with and demand less. You know that trope all startup people say "raise your prices and get rid of the low value high cost customers" Same thing.

Having done a little work across the spectrum, this is definitely correct. Years ago, I targeted the cheaper end, and the amount of work expected was absurd. The nonmonetary terms of the deals were often even worse; think business destroying levels of exploitation. (I declined those!)

In contrast, I've quoted hundreds of dollars an hour while explaining that I didn't think I would offer enough value to actually justify that price in context and encouraged alternatives- and got the job immediately. And the project went very smoothly. In another recent case, I requested tens of thousands of dollars for some project-relevant expenditures, and received a deposit without a single question.

Organizations that are willing to spend money tend to be the ones that understand what they're buying and how to value it.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#234

Post by fxtentacle »

furyofantares wrote: post #225
fxtentacle wrote: post #6

$2k per day. hourly always invites discussions, for example how are phone calls with mixed topics billed?

i assume that invites a discussion about what a day is. is that an easier discussion? how does it go? or does it not invite discussion?

Never had that discussion.

When I assign a day to a project, it basically means that I promise to not work on something else on that calendar day. But the actual hours don't matter that much if I get some stuff done.

I mean regular employees also can have a bad day where they can't concentrate well and then you only get 4 hours of productive work out of the 8 hours they are physically present.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#235

Post by bawolff »

trhoad wrote: post #187
dmje wrote: post #166

Everyone here is so incredibly focused on money as the primary motivator, which I guess given the thread question makes some sense. But I'd like to just put in a little word for money not being everything, and client type / work type actually being a really important part of the equation. HN is a forum where increasingly I see posts every single day about the high level of misery in tech / how can I get out of this r…

I mean this in the nicest way possible, but it's easy to say money isn't everything when you're already earning £120k/$140k pa.

All they said was money isn't everything. They didn't say money is nothing.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#236

Post by justinlloyd »

joshmn wrote: post #131
hakanderyal wrote: post #124

I build web apps from start to finish by myself (architecture, design, development, database, servers, marketing page etc.). I bill $500/day, but do project based billing, with 50% payment up-front, 25% on first preview, and 25% on delivery. For improvements and new features on existing projects, I estimate the avg. monthly work and we do monthly retainer agreements. I usually work with seed stage startups (usually r…

When you come back around to missing client work, remember that some guy on HN begged you to raise your rate. Doesn't matter where you are located. value == value; value != location.

Every time I've said "value == value; value != location" on HN I strangely get downvoted to oblivion. If I am getting $1,000 a day in Los Angeles, just because I decided I wanted to go live in a midden in the Outer Hebrides, it doesn't alter the value I provide, but immediately people trot out the "low cost of living" argument as though they are eager to throw themselves on any business' sword of justification for paying less money for the same thing. If I buy a Macbook Pro in SF or in Upper Tobago (we don't do Lower Tobago, the internet is lousy and there aren't any good restaurants), Apple ain't giving me a discount based on whether I am in a HCOL vs a LCOL (local taxes and minor exchange rate fluctuations not withstanding). I don't understand why so many contractors, especially in this remote era, are so eager to do the same and also tell everyone else why they should be paid less too. I'll keep banging this drum about "value == value" even if it means taking some lumps with it.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#237

Post by rjzzleep »

raesene9 wrote: post #216
madaxe_again wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I typically end up filling the roles of CTO, CISO - I can advise, implement, whatever, on virtually any stack. It’s just that in the U.K., technology skills have little to no value.

If you're doing $70/hr in the UK at CISO level you're way under some of your competitors. Heck Pentesters charge more than that and they're 50%+ cheaper in the UK than the US. My hourly rate in the UK as an Big-4 Infosec consultant 15+ years ago was way more than that and I wasn't doing CISO work. Partners (who were the kind of people doing that kind of work) were 10x your rate back then.

It's actually a similar price in Germany. There are higher paying jobs in Berlin, but in general it's not unusual to have this price in Europe. France and Spain is even lower.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#238

Post by justinlloyd »

rossnordby wrote: post #233
joshmanders wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not accurate at all. I've found people who pay these rates are better to work with and demand less. You know that trope all startup people say "raise your prices and get rid of the low value high cost customers" Same thing.

Having done a little work across the spectrum, this is definitely correct. Years ago, I targeted the cheaper end, and the amount of work expected was absurd. The nonmonetary terms of the deals were often even worse; think business destroying levels of exploitation. (I declined those!) In contrast, I've quoted hundreds of dollars an hour while explaining that I didn't think I would offer enough value to actually justi…

I gave up on the cheaper end long ago - too many trials by fire. Raising my rates was the best thing I did for my own sanity. I still run into an odd client here and there that makes my life Hell on Earth for a while. I also stopped giving discounts. And on the advice of good friend who runs a sizable creative agency in Los Angeles, came up with a "fuck off" rate for when I really don't want the work. Right now, I don't charge a sky-high rate, but I've started applying "9am to 6pm, no on-call, no toxicity, no arseholes, no high pressure to deliver at all costs." I am so over client-induced PTSD & anxiety disorders.

Re: Ask HN: Generalist contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#240

Post by [deleted] »

mattmanser wrote: post #230
Retric wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s assuming they can work 240 days a year, contracting normally has significant unpaid downtime and of course zero benefits.

Not really, the rule of thumb most contractors talk about is plan around 220 days per year (44 weeks).

[deleted]
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