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"If the project is behind schedule, Gigster just assigns more developers to it or fires under-performing ones so it gets done on time." - Somebody hasn't read M

"If the project is behind schedule, Gigster just assigns more developers to it or fires under-performing ones so it gets done on time." - Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month.

levlandau 11y ago
Hi! We don't assign more people blindly. But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? We are engineers ourselves and are certainly careful to not just load up a bunch of devs on a project. We've done that before and it was painful :) Thanks for the feedback!
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? There's a difference between "if a developer gets sick or has to travel" and "if a project is behind schedule". (Though if the first happens late in the project, the problems with trying to backfill with an developer with no prior connection to the project at the late date are similar to trying to stack on more staff when a project is already behind schedule, and pose similar risks of delaying rather than accelerate delivery even further than accepting the cost of the loss.)
- jlarocco 11y ago
  > But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I don't know what that means. Those both seem like silly reasons to add more devs to a project. Unless you're talking about long term sickness (like cancer) or travelling around the world for a few months, but that's not really the expected usages of those phrases.
- markbnj 11y ago
  >> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I think that's sort of the point. You do whatever any other engineering team does when faced with the same challenges. The question is what is Gigster doing differently that allows you to achieve consistent on-time, on-budget results? Because if you have that formula, you could probably make a lot more money just consulting with existing dev shops on how to implement it.
  - msellout 11y ago
    Their FAQ answers your question. They are planning to simply eat any project budget overrun, aiming for growth rather than profit. YOU SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. HOW CAN YOU DO IT THIS CHEAP? Agencies and development shops have a lot of overhead & are fundamentally lifestyle business, meaning that their focus is profits. Gigster is venture-backed so our focus is growth & customer satisfaction. We’d have a referral from you than your money. Profits come later when we are at scale.
    - EarthLaunch 11y ago
      Will this attract 'cheap' customers? As a potential customer I think I prefer the idea of a company that profits by the standard of doing my work, rather than a referral standard I have no control over.
    - ForHackernews 11y ago
      This actually sounds like a fantastic opportunity to have your development work subsidized by some rich VCs.
      - markbnj 11y ago
        Ha, exactly, except that too good to be true usually is. I have a hard time believing the "low ball high volume" strategy is going to lead to well-executed projects.
        LoSboccacc 11y ago
        I think the actual strategy is push idea guys into sharing equities so they get both some money for the initial investment and make it big on equity with relatively low risk if the project succeeds. From another pov they are vc to idea guys, only instead of giving the money for equity they give the product for equity. With the difference that they also get paid for it!
        11y ago
- semerda 11y ago
  > But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? - don't run a skeleton crew dev team unless you are ready to handle the risks, - better project management upfront to cater for this risk - maybe allow customer to choose risk tolerance upfront like some fintech companies do and - include some internal reward mechanism for over delivery so you can better manage resources. There are prob a ton more but these are the 3 that popped into my head. Apps don't solve problems but good business models behind apps do. Sort that out 1st.
rogerdickey 11y ago
It's not linear but the math works out - managed right, and up to a point, projects get faster with more people. The management part is hard but that's where our platform comes in.
- sesteel 11y ago
  I am envisioning a clown car.
  - mlitchard 11y ago
    Clown car + yakkity sax
- keypusher 11y ago
  This is actually not how the math works out. The book referenced is a classic of computer science literature and goes into quite a bit of detail about why the math doesn't work out this way.
  - LoSboccacc 11y ago
    It's already happening. 40min and counting of waiting in line to speak with a pm, not even starting with the quoting talk. Idea is good but scaling to loads of projects will be a very hard endeavour (and scaling back after demand dwindle)
- angersock 11y ago
  9 mothers don't produce a baby in 1 month.
- georgemcbay 11y ago
  > that's where our platform comes in. "our platform" is quickly overtaking "the cloud" as something a web browser extension should replace with "butt".
  - krapp 11y ago
kineticac 11y ago
Just a bad guideline worded badly. I'd say this is far from the core value of what the service provides. I'd rather just hear: "Quality products are guaranteed because of our extensive experience and knowledge of making these projects work with many dynamic circumstances." Ambiguous, sure, but that should be a good thing. Let's hear that they're constantly evolving and working around new challenges, and applying experience and learning from all the data points they have to tackle existing / mundane issues. The core should be just that.
- albertyw 11y ago
  I agree with your message, but that quote could be applied to any company ever. Case studies would be more useful.
jasimq 11y ago
Well I guess they'll learn by their mistakes...
throwaway2215 11y ago
> Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month. Or managed a software development project of any significance.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  Or even worked on a software development project where someone tried that trick.

"If the project is behind schedule, Gigster just assigns more developers to it or fires under-performing ones so it gets done on time." - Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month.

levlandau 11y ago

Hi! We don't assign more people blindly. But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? We are engineers ourselves and are certainly careful to not just load up a bunch of devs on a project. We've done that before and it was painful :) Thanks for the feedback!

dragonwriter 11y ago
> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? There's a difference between "if a developer gets sick or has to travel" and "if a project is behind schedule". (Though if the first happens late in the project, the problems with trying to backfill with an developer with no prior connection to the project at the late date are similar to trying to stack on more staff when a project is already behind schedule, and pose similar risks of delaying rather than accelerate delivery even further than accepting the cost of the loss.)
jlarocco 11y ago
> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I don't know what that means. Those both seem like silly reasons to add more devs to a project. Unless you're talking about long term sickness (like cancer) or travelling around the world for a few months, but that's not really the expected usages of those phrases.
markbnj 11y ago
>> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I think that's sort of the point. You do whatever any other engineering team does when faced with the same challenges. The question is what is Gigster doing differently that allows you to achieve consistent on-time, on-budget results? Because if you have that formula, you could probably make a lot more money just consulting with existing dev shops on how to implement it.
- msellout 11y ago
  Their FAQ answers your question. They are planning to simply eat any project budget overrun, aiming for growth rather than profit. YOU SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. HOW CAN YOU DO IT THIS CHEAP? Agencies and development shops have a lot of overhead & are fundamentally lifestyle business, meaning that their focus is profits. Gigster is venture-backed so our focus is growth & customer satisfaction. We’d have a referral from you than your money. Profits come later when we are at scale.
  - EarthLaunch 11y ago
    Will this attract 'cheap' customers? As a potential customer I think I prefer the idea of a company that profits by the standard of doing my work, rather than a referral standard I have no control over.
  - ForHackernews 11y ago
    This actually sounds like a fantastic opportunity to have your development work subsidized by some rich VCs.
    - markbnj 11y ago
      Ha, exactly, except that too good to be true usually is. I have a hard time believing the "low ball high volume" strategy is going to lead to well-executed projects.
      - LoSboccacc 11y ago
        I think the actual strategy is push idea guys into sharing equities so they get both some money for the initial investment and make it big on equity with relatively low risk if the project succeeds. From another pov they are vc to idea guys, only instead of giving the money for equity they give the product for equity. With the difference that they also get paid for it!
        11y ago
semerda 11y ago
> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? - don't run a skeleton crew dev team unless you are ready to handle the risks, - better project management upfront to cater for this risk - maybe allow customer to choose risk tolerance upfront like some fintech companies do and - include some internal reward mechanism for over delivery so you can better manage resources. There are prob a ton more but these are the 3 that popped into my head. Apps don't solve problems but good business models behind apps do. Sort that out 1st.

rogerdickey 11y ago

It's not linear but the math works out - managed right, and up to a point, projects get faster with more people. The management part is hard but that's where our platform comes in.

sesteel 11y ago
I am envisioning a clown car.
- mlitchard 11y ago
  Clown car + yakkity sax
keypusher 11y ago
This is actually not how the math works out. The book referenced is a classic of computer science literature and goes into quite a bit of detail about why the math doesn't work out this way.
- LoSboccacc 11y ago
  It's already happening. 40min and counting of waiting in line to speak with a pm, not even starting with the quoting talk. Idea is good but scaling to loads of projects will be a very hard endeavour (and scaling back after demand dwindle)
angersock 11y ago
9 mothers don't produce a baby in 1 month.
georgemcbay 11y ago
> that's where our platform comes in. "our platform" is quickly overtaking "the cloud" as something a web browser extension should replace with "butt".
- krapp 11y ago

kineticac 11y ago

Just a bad guideline worded badly. I'd say this is far from the core value of what the service provides. I'd rather just hear: "Quality products are guaranteed because of our extensive experience and knowledge of making these projects work with many dynamic circumstances." Ambiguous, sure, but that should be a good thing. Let's hear that they're constantly evolving and working around new challenges, and applying experience and learning from all the data points they have to tackle existing / mundane issues. The core should be just that.

albertyw 11y ago
I agree with your message, but that quote could be applied to any company ever. Case studies would be more useful.

jasimq 11y ago

Well I guess they'll learn by their mistakes...

throwaway2215 11y ago

> Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month. Or managed a software development project of any significance.

dragonwriter 11y ago
Or even worked on a software development project where someone tried that trick.