So you want to be a consultant?
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So you want to be a consultant?
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Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#2I am the author of this article, and I'm happy to answer any questions about tech consulting right here.
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#3Question for author and others on HN:
How feasible is it to have remote employees when most of your work is on embedded systems?
I recently started a software consulting group with a couple of partners, and we are starting to hire. I'd like to offer remote positions, but since most of our work is on embedded systems (e.g. medical devices), I don't think this is really feasible. For any given system, there's so much pain in wiring, setting up and debugging a test and development environment, etc. that it doesn't seem worth it. However, maybe I'm overestimating the difficulty and underestimating the benefit. Anyone else have success with remote work that is not primarily on web systems?
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#4Question for author and others on HN: How feasible is it to have remote employees when most of your work is on embedded systems? I recently started a software consulting group with a couple of partners, and we are starting to hire. I'd like to offer remote positions, but since most of our work is on embedded systems (e.g. medical devices), I don't think this is really feasible. For any given system, there's so much p…
Is it cost-prohibitive to ship test devices to each of your engineers?
I have worked on an embedded systems team where some of the employees were remote. The biggest challenges were with sharing details for reproducing specific issues, but emailing videos and lots of conference calls made it a functional environment.
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#5Question for author and others on HN: How feasible is it to have remote employees when most of your work is on embedded systems? I recently started a software consulting group with a couple of partners, and we are starting to hire. I'd like to offer remote positions, but since most of our work is on embedded systems (e.g. medical devices), I don't think this is really feasible. For any given system, there's so much p…
I suppose that depends on how remote you want to be and what their availability is for occasional on site work. I've worked several places where I've done work remotely that was integrated on one specific, specialized system. I did most of the work remotely and then every once in awhile we booked a hotel close to the final site and did a week of testing.
It requires a lot more up front planning. It doesn't work as well for an "agile" environment. Although from what I have seen it is difficult to make "agile" work in a specialized hardware environment anyway.
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#6Some comments and questions as well here (total noobie):
1) I can't comment on the viability of getting great clients by going big consulting firms, but it feels quite indirect. And probably can't expand developing experience as noted.
2) Seems very ideal and in fact something I'm trying to pursue right now, but I suffer from the classic chicken-egg problem where I can't get clients without having prior clients.
3) Seems more like a natural extension once you grow your network enough
4) Sweet spot. I'd love to find a small consultancy, you'd get the best of both worlds, steady flow of clients, but nearly the same flexibility as being an independent consultant. Are there resources to finding those unicorn consultancies? I'm doing mostly Rails/full-stack work, but most consultancies seem to be either local or not that flexible with part-time/remote
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#7Question for author and others on HN: How feasible is it to have remote employees when most of your work is on embedded systems? I recently started a software consulting group with a couple of partners, and we are starting to hire. I'd like to offer remote positions, but since most of our work is on embedded systems (e.g. medical devices), I don't think this is really feasible. For any given system, there's so much p…
Is it cost-prohibitive to ship test devices to each of your engineers? I have worked on an embedded systems team where some of the employees were remote. The biggest challenges were with sharing details for reproducing specific issues, but emailing videos and lots of conference calls made it a functional environment.
No, for most of our projects, the test systems are small enough so that it's not cost-prohibitive to ship. I just know that every time we bring up a new system or board, there can be days of debugging stupid problems, and that's with everyone and all our electronics gear in the same building.
You say the environment was "functional". For you, did the advantages of having the larger applicant market outweigh the disadvantages?
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#8I don't want to get too caught up in quibbling over definitions, but I do feel like there's a point worth making here: There is a difference between a "consultant" and a "contractor", and I think it's worth being aware of. It may or may not matter to any given individual, but to some it will. And to be fair, some of this is subjective, but here's the way I've observed it over the years...
First of all, what do I mean by "difference between consultant and contractor"? Well, if you go off as a freelance / solo developer, your business card may say "consultant" but you'll still be "just another developer" in the eyes of most clients, and in that role you're really just a contractor. That is to say, you're contract labor... just a cog in the machine, another brick in the wall if you will.
If you're on a 6+ month engagement where you show up every day from 8-5 and write code in a cubicle all day, you're probably more contractor than consultant.
OTOH, a "consultant" is seen as having valuable and highly prized insights and knowledge, and is paid to help solve a problem, or work through a situation... which may or may not involve writing code.. if it does, it would probably be highly specialized code that only a small number of people could write. But ideally, if your "consulting" you would be doing just that - working with a high level executive (CTO, CIO, VP) or at least a mid-level manager, and providing them knowledge and insights to deal with a situation.
If your work product for an engagement is a report or presentation of some sort, and one or more recommendations about what the firm should do, or what choice they should make between a set of competing alternatives, then you're in more of a "consulting" role.
Anyway, that's my take. Like I said, some people won't care about any of this. But it matters in that a "consultant" (per the above definition) is seen as more of a colleague / peer to management, isn't necessarily sitting in a cube from 8-5, and generally isn't seen as "hired labor". If that kind of thing is important to you, I suggest specializing in something where you can be paid to sharing your insights, not just for writing code.
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#9Some comments and questions as well here (total noobie): 1) I can't comment on the viability of getting great clients by going big consulting firms, but it feels quite indirect. And probably can't expand developing experience as noted. 2) Seems very ideal and in fact something I'm trying to pursue right now, but I suffer from the classic chicken-egg problem where I can't get clients without having prior clients. 3) S…
"Are there resources to finding those unicorn consultancies?"
Great question. AFAIK, there are not.
I have tended to only find out about them by word of mouth after spending some time in a particular area of specialization. Back when I was doing Flex, Universal Mind and Digital Primates were well-known in that arena. You tended to see them in conferences, and some of their employees were the ones who authored the best known technical books on Flex. So there is one idea: find out where some of the renowned bloggers, authors, and developers in your field of interest do their consulting.
Re: So you want to be a consultant?
#10I am the author of this article, and I'm happy to answer any questions about tech consulting right here.
For options #2 and #3, how do you go about getting your very first client? I can imagine the dialogue when you've done a few projects and you've got a portfolio and perhaps references, but how do you get the very first person when you're just "some bloke who thinks he knows how to write software." ?