[thelist] Fulltime to freelance

[Matt Warden]

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 1:03 PM, Fred Jones <fredthejonester at gmail.com> wrote:
> As far as gathering requirements and making a proposal with a fixed
> price, I find that extremely difficult. I do not believe I am the only
> one. The "Cone of Uncertainty" is a known pitfall of software
> development:
>
> http://www.construx.com/Page.aspx?hid=1648
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Uncertainty
>

This is a good point. At The Day Job, requirements through general
systems design is always time & materials, while detailed design
through deployment is always fixed price. So, when you don't know the
scope and are trying to nail it down, that time is billable on a
per-hour, per-cost basis. But after that point, you are expected to be
able to nail down how much the rest of the project will cost and stick
to it.

I think it's a good balance of risk from both sides.


-- 
Matt Warden
Cincinnati, OH, USA
http://mattwarden.com


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