3 ms·

What kind of freelance do you do?

• mpfundstein 6y ago
  i have a small company and we do projects for municipalities and corps usually in space IoT and AI but also some qt/c++ and web sometimes i consider myself still a freelancer as I dont have employees. but i outsource work regurarily to other freelancers. ususally coders my high rate comes from the fact that I alone can push projects to completion. i am not a wheel in the coq but i lead the effort and own failure and success
  • ChuckNorris89 6y ago
    Out of curiosity, where in Europe do you live/work with such high rates?
    • mpfundstein 6y ago
      Netherlands. I work for quite some companies in the States though. They pay a bit better
      • ChuckNorris89 6y ago
        How do you get specialized in such a broad spectrum from IoT to AI? I work in IoT and a friend had to get a PhD to work in AI so it sounds super difficult for one man to specialize in so many things at once.
        • mpfundstein 6y ago
          outsource when necessary to the right people. know enough to guide the project towards success. learn learn learn
          • ChuckNorris89 6y ago
            Fair enough. And how do you find customers for your work? I mean before you have a strong network built up.
            • mpfundstein 6y ago
              i had some kind of network already in place from starting out. all my initial gigs came from acquaintances. and from then on usually referals. i only had 1 client so far that i acquired out of nowhere. and it was random luck. i also cooperate tightly with thought leaders who operatw in certain industry (eg Smart City). people who can talk and inspire decision makers. I am then their tech guy whenever they convince someone to build an AI for X... this is a win win. they can shine and i get a great project to do :-)
              • ChuckNorris89 6y ago
                I've been in the industry for almost 10 years but never managed to network my way out of the engineering circles into the money/decision making circles or thought leaders as you call them. This is mostly by design by companies to keep engineering side detached from the business side and the borders are strictly enforced to have every engineer as a replaceable cog. Is there a way to build that initial network as a dev or is it just a matter of luck, like the right contacts in university or being at the right place at the right time? Since just cold calling business people or approaching them at gatherings doesn't get you anywhere since nobody trusts strangers they just met.
                • mpfundstein 6y ago
                  yeah. the latter doesn't work! i think the first "right" step I took was that I asked for a broader role in the startup I was working for. I didn't just want to be a senior dev anymore. I wanted to have client contact and also contact with potential suppliers/business partners. At one of our business partners back then, I met a guy who brought last year up to 200k of business for me. That was 5 years ago and we are friends since then, working together since 2 years. So long-term relations are key. And patience. When I first met him he was just a great drinking buddy with whom I could talk about politics :P