> And if you get the estimate wrong (too low), you screw yourself and lose money on the project - too high and you don't even get the contract. In this environm

> And if you get the estimate wrong (too low), you screw yourself and lose money on the project - too high and you don't even get the contract. In this environment, you learn quickly that estimation is vital, In my vertical what happens is that customers field optimistic estimates from vendors much less qualified than you. But customers have no basis to know those estimates are fanciful. So they rely on a fanciful estimate from an unscrupulous vendor, and then get stuck. Estimates are not judged on being right, they're judged on being low. In that environment, the only winning move is not to play. Obviously in some verticals there could be people technically qualified to evaluate the incoming bids. I'm just reporting that it isn't the case where I work.