4 ms·

Genius, pitch your service disguised in a genuine question. :) But in all seriousness, with the team you have, it sounds like you need a full time business dev

by pan69 12y ago

Genius, pitch your service disguised in a genuine question. :) But in all seriousness, with the team you have, it sounds like you need a full time business development person. Ideally that would be you but maybe this is not part of your skill set. To feed those mouths you need revenue and getting work through the door is a full time job. A bizdev person can be expensive but the idea is that they pay for themselves (easier said than done). Rather than hiring a full time bizdev, you could instead try to build a network of bizdev people around you. They could receive a bonus if x% for any lead that turns into a contact (again, easier said than done). Other thing that might work is to get into contact with recruiters (I know, I'm out of a limb). You can let them know that you have a team of devs ready to go that they can fall back on in case of emergencies or what ever.

kls 12y ago
Genius, pitch your service disguised in a genuine question. :) I know it's not out of the realm of possibility on HN and I do like that HN is not adverse to shameless promotion but my first and foremost interest is in the opinions of the group on how to parlay this into what the team wants. As we just keep circling this subject, one of our big contracts is winding down again so the subject has once again come to the forefront. All of us have no doubt that we will replace the contract but no one is thrilled about the idea. There is a deep desire to have some ownership or at least some long term interest in a codebase. Other thing that might work is to get into contact with recruiters (I know, I'm out of a limb). You can let them know that you have a team of devs ready to go that they can fall back on in case of emergencies or what ever. This has been the majority of our leads, we have about 4 recruiters that when they see a pattern of hiring by a company tend to recommend getting in contact with us, they of course take their margin of the top of the team but it is less than standard recruiting arrangements. One of the things about us is that money is equally split among the team. None of us take a cut off the top.
- pan69 12y ago
  >> One of the things about us is that money is equally split among the team. None of us take a cut off the top. That's interesting. So, there is actually no money to grow the business? I.e. profit that can be reinvested for growth? This might actually be the root cause of your problem (although it's difficult to tell).
  - kls 12y ago
    No we don't really keep a fund as we are technically not a business. Some of us have our own consultancy but the rate we negotiate per head goes directly to each contributing member of the team.
raincom 12y ago
That's how offshoring companies like Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, do: bizdev person gets a fat cut like x% from the offshoring contract. They are like enterprise sales at big companies. In the states, most of bizdev is about selling a product. Companies like IBM do swap deals: AT&T outsources it IT work, in return IBM buys stuff from ATT (cellphone, network, phone services, etc). So, the parent poster should troll on Linkedin and look for the bizdev folks who work for Indian offshoring companies, and network with them, and see where it leads to.

by pan69 12y ago

kls 12y ago

Genius, pitch your service disguised in a genuine question. :) I know it's not out of the realm of possibility on HN and I do like that HN is not adverse to shameless promotion but my first and foremost interest is in the opinions of the group on how to parlay this into what the team wants. As we just keep circling this subject, one of our big contracts is winding down again so the subject has once again come to the forefront. All of us have no doubt that we will replace the contract but no one is thrilled about the idea. There is a deep desire to have some ownership or at least some long term interest in a codebase. Other thing that might work is to get into contact with recruiters (I know, I'm out of a limb). You can let them know that you have a team of devs ready to go that they can fall back on in case of emergencies or what ever. This has been the majority of our leads, we have about 4 recruiters that when they see a pattern of hiring by a company tend to recommend getting in contact with us, they of course take their margin of the top of the team but it is less than standard recruiting arrangements. One of the things about us is that money is equally split among the team. None of us take a cut off the top.

pan69 12y ago
>> One of the things about us is that money is equally split among the team. None of us take a cut off the top. That's interesting. So, there is actually no money to grow the business? I.e. profit that can be reinvested for growth? This might actually be the root cause of your problem (although it's difficult to tell).
- kls 12y ago
  No we don't really keep a fund as we are technically not a business. Some of us have our own consultancy but the rate we negotiate per head goes directly to each contributing member of the team.

raincom 12y ago

That's how offshoring companies like Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, do: bizdev person gets a fat cut like x% from the offshoring contract. They are like enterprise sales at big companies. In the states, most of bizdev is about selling a product. Companies like IBM do swap deals: AT&T outsources it IT work, in return IBM buys stuff from ATT (cellphone, network, phone services, etc). So, the parent poster should troll on Linkedin and look for the bizdev folks who work for Indian offshoring companies, and network with them, and see where it leads to.