4 ms·

Working 10 hrs a week at 1k/hr would be awesome. Saving time is better than maximizing money.

_delirium 16y ago
Sure, but that's the part I'm wondering about. 10 hrs/wk at $1k/hr would be great (~$500k/yr for part-time work!), but, say, 1hr/wk on average wouldn't be too good, even at that rate. And I read his post as having an undercurrent of being more, "I'm trying to convince you paying me $1k/hr is a good idea" rather than "there are actually a lot of people already paying me $1k/hr". Has he gotten dozens of contracts at that rate? A few? One?
- moe 16y ago
  A few? One? I'd venture the guess the number is very small or perhaps even zero. At that rate he'd burn through a reasonable budget for an iPhone app within weeks. And I mean the entire budget, which would normally include graphics design and backend work. I have no doubts he could get an app off the ground faster than most teams - given he lives up to his bold claims, which is entirely possible. But as with every software project that's only a very small part of the story. The elephant in the room is maintenance and ongoing development. If you have $500k and were to launch a business around an iPhone app what would you rather do? Give most of that money to a single person, get your app in 8 weeks and call it a day? Or would you rather hire a team, pay significantly less for the initial launch, get it in perhaps 16 weeks, but then still have money in the bank and a committed team for further steps? Hiring this guy at that rate just seems like a bad business decision for pretty much any project. If anyone does then, well, kudos to him for parting the dumb from their money.
  - xenophanes 16y ago
    I don't think you're supposed to hire him to build a whole app. You hire him to give advice for an hour or two so you get pointed in the right direction, or review some code, or fix one bug your team is stuck on, or he can help you find the right cheaper person to hire.
    - loboman 16y ago
      He should say he's offering iPhone consultancy then.
      - JoachimSchipper 16y ago
        The list of options he offers does look like consultancy.
        moe 16y ago
        iPhone consultancy can be had for much cheaper, though. I have worked with contractors from eastern europe that work an entire week for the amount he asks for an hour. And despite the cliches their performance was absolutely okay. Not mindblowing, but as solid as it gets within the constraints of the iPhone platform. It's not exactly rocket science. I'm entirely okay with people charging what they're worth. But I don't believe someone can be worth an order of magnitude above average in iPhone-land.
        JoachimSchipper 16y ago
        Well, "charging what the market will bear". And why couldn't he be an order of magnitude above average? The "good coders are ten times as productive" meme is alive and well on HN. (Note that "ten times as productive" depends a lot on what you are doing. I concur that one of these "wrap an RSS feed" apps probably does not significantly benefit from hiring a truly excellent coder versus a competent one.)

Sure, but that's the part I'm wondering about. 10 hrs/wk at $1k/hr would be great (~$500k/yr for part-time work!), but, say, 1hr/wk on average wouldn't be too good, even at that rate. And I read his post as having an undercurrent of being more, "I'm trying to convince you paying me $1k/hr is a good idea" rather than "there are actually a lot of people already paying me $1k/hr". Has he gotten dozens of contracts at that rate? A few? One?

moe 16y ago
A few? One? I'd venture the guess the number is very small or perhaps even zero. At that rate he'd burn through a reasonable budget for an iPhone app within weeks. And I mean the entire budget, which would normally include graphics design and backend work. I have no doubts he could get an app off the ground faster than most teams - given he lives up to his bold claims, which is entirely possible. But as with every software project that's only a very small part of the story. The elephant in the room is maintenance and ongoing development. If you have $500k and were to launch a business around an iPhone app what would you rather do? Give most of that money to a single person, get your app in 8 weeks and call it a day? Or would you rather hire a team, pay significantly less for the initial launch, get it in perhaps 16 weeks, but then still have money in the bank and a committed team for further steps? Hiring this guy at that rate just seems like a bad business decision for pretty much any project. If anyone does then, well, kudos to him for parting the dumb from their money.
- xenophanes 16y ago
  I don't think you're supposed to hire him to build a whole app. You hire him to give advice for an hour or two so you get pointed in the right direction, or review some code, or fix one bug your team is stuck on, or he can help you find the right cheaper person to hire.
  - loboman 16y ago
    He should say he's offering iPhone consultancy then.
    - JoachimSchipper 16y ago
      The list of options he offers does look like consultancy.
      - moe 16y ago
        iPhone consultancy can be had for much cheaper, though. I have worked with contractors from eastern europe that work an entire week for the amount he asks for an hour. And despite the cliches their performance was absolutely okay. Not mindblowing, but as solid as it gets within the constraints of the iPhone platform. It's not exactly rocket science. I'm entirely okay with people charging what they're worth. But I don't believe someone can be worth an order of magnitude above average in iPhone-land.
        JoachimSchipper 16y ago
        Well, "charging what the market will bear". And why couldn't he be an order of magnitude above average? The "good coders are ten times as productive" meme is alive and well on HN. (Note that "ten times as productive" depends a lot on what you are doing. I concur that one of these "wrap an RSS feed" apps probably does not significantly benefit from hiring a truly excellent coder versus a competent one.)