The essence of this question is worth talking about. To clarify something first, this was not a programming job. I was managing a team of content uploaders for

The essence of this question is worth talking about. To clarify something first, this was not a programming job. I was managing a team of content uploaders for an e-commerce company. I used software in multiple ways to keep the team at the same size when my original brief was to simplify the process so much that they could hire more people at cheap rates to do the work. So I went above and beyond the brief. The job was so simple they didn't need to hire anyone anyway. The question of why 3X is to do with alignment of interests. I can't offer savings of 20X and ask for that to be added to my salary. Yes I'm creating that value, but we also want to increase profits. If I ask for all the savings, then what makes my solution worth it? Calculating our business margins at the time I came to the conclusion of 15% of the savings to come to me to be worth it given the extra business our team was able to handle due to the automation. Lesson here is how to calculate your ask. My team unit with 20 extra people meant the new work being brought in would be coming in with no profit. The team (without extras) was just breaking even at the time by my calculations. The profits made by automating to accept new business at an accelerated rate was above our usual margins (I think it was about 45%). My ask lowered it but it was still above the company's expected margins on business. My mistake though was that the automation was nearly infinitely scalable. I showed my entire hand and me leaving wouldn't necessarily burn anyone. 6 years since I left, at least two of the tools are still running. Twas a great lesson on negotiation and leverage. Live and learn :)