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Basically it's saying for every extra dollar you want to earn in consulting you must hire more engineers. For traditional software you can continue to sell the

by bryanh 9y ago

Basically it's saying for every extra dollar you want to earn in consulting you must hire more engineers. For traditional software you can continue to sell the same bits over and over and not hire an extra engineer for the Nth sale.

nightski 9y ago
I mean there is some level of growth in the sales/marketing/accounting and non-engineering departments right? Engineering isn't the only thing in a business, sometimes it's not even the most important (as much as we might hate to hear that). I've been in extremely successful software companies that had a crap product but an amazing sales team (although I didn't stick around long).
- croon 9y ago
  Couldn't agree more. I've noticed this pattern in both business and in individual engineers. You either have a spectacular product that theoretically could sell itself with initial exposure, or you have the best marketing and a product that might as well be vapor. Usually it's the mediocre product that's somewhere in between that wins. In engineers I've noticed that some of the brightest I've worked with are unsociable, or have no self esteem, and get stuck in the same place for 20 years, and on the other side of the spectrum are talentless hacks that are great at selling themselves and moving around enough to increase their salary. Meanwhile I feel like a fraud because I'm not the best, but good enough to recognize my worth and sociable enough to put myself out there. I leverage the shit out of that and feel somewhat guilty about hoping that the really talented local engineers don't catch on to the idea.
  - ethbro 9y ago
    Also the optimal mix varies according to company age. Younger company with unknown decent product? More heavily spending on sales. Older company with industry recommendations from previous clients? Spend less on fewer, more technical sales people. Older company with no recommendations from previous clients? You're doing something wrong, and sales isn't the place you should be spending your money. I feel like normally this logic is inverted at the C-level though. Sales are low and product isn't getting traction? Hire more sales and marketing folks and put off those engineering hires.
dcwca 9y ago
Tell that to Uber's 15,000 employees.

by bryanh 9y ago

nightski 9y ago

I mean there is some level of growth in the sales/marketing/accounting and non-engineering departments right? Engineering isn't the only thing in a business, sometimes it's not even the most important (as much as we might hate to hear that). I've been in extremely successful software companies that had a crap product but an amazing sales team (although I didn't stick around long).

croon 9y ago
Couldn't agree more. I've noticed this pattern in both business and in individual engineers. You either have a spectacular product that theoretically could sell itself with initial exposure, or you have the best marketing and a product that might as well be vapor. Usually it's the mediocre product that's somewhere in between that wins. In engineers I've noticed that some of the brightest I've worked with are unsociable, or have no self esteem, and get stuck in the same place for 20 years, and on the other side of the spectrum are talentless hacks that are great at selling themselves and moving around enough to increase their salary. Meanwhile I feel like a fraud because I'm not the best, but good enough to recognize my worth and sociable enough to put myself out there. I leverage the shit out of that and feel somewhat guilty about hoping that the really talented local engineers don't catch on to the idea.
- ethbro 9y ago
  Also the optimal mix varies according to company age. Younger company with unknown decent product? More heavily spending on sales. Older company with industry recommendations from previous clients? Spend less on fewer, more technical sales people. Older company with no recommendations from previous clients? You're doing something wrong, and sales isn't the place you should be spending your money. I feel like normally this logic is inverted at the C-level though. Sales are low and product isn't getting traction? Hire more sales and marketing folks and put off those engineering hires.

dcwca 9y ago

Tell that to Uber's 15,000 employees.