> you can simply let me know your consulting rates and that is almost like a small investor paying you money to build a feature for your product that's probably

> you can simply let me know your consulting rates and that is almost like a small investor paying you money to build a feature for your product that's probably useful for other customers as well. This defense against attempts at subordination is sensible and professional, but I think it is far from common thinking, in my opinion, among the non-entrepreneurial types that go into Engineering or CS. It is understanding gained for them only after decades of painful experience - if at all.