This saying fits the software development world like a glove. Ā Recently ran into one of my mentors who said that his opportunity with a startup didnāt work out because they were looking for a cowboy coder. Ā This is not a knock on cowboy coders as Iāve been hired to produce features cheap and fast in the past (it didnāt work out well). Ā Now I know that experienced programmers donāt do cheap and fast. Ā My mentor handled the situation by stating he was a craftsman and would not compromise his process for speed and business deadlines.
From a business perspective I completely understand that you have a limited budget to survive. Ā I canāt count the times Iāve heard āTests, Refactoring, and development of employees doesnāt matter if the company goes out of businessā. Ā This is true, but what happens when youāre still in business. Ā I got news for you barely surviving means youāre still in business. Ā Thereās obviously a delicate balance on how to operate a business so this blog is not about how to run your business.
As a contractor in the local Denver market Iāve charged about $60+ an hour for 2-3 month projects ($75+ for shorter contracts). Ā Working as a contractor by myself is fine but after witnessing the exponential productivity of a software development team I understand now why there is no comparison. Ā For example, when I get stuck on a hard problem it may take 4hrs to figure out a solution and another 8-16hrs refactoring or arriving at a better design/performance solution. Ā A team around me that can theorize design ideas, answer questions, and mob program has increased my productivity about 4x. Ā I understand now why brand name consulting companies can charge $250+ per hour on average (this is not what Zinc charges).
Recently I joined a consultancy called Zinc technology, Inc started by my mentor in the Bay Area. Ā After a couple of weeks of work I can understand the value to clients of hiring experienced consultants. Ā So far Iāve seen two kinds of clients in Zinc. Ā Those that want to clean/upgrade the code that a cowboy coder wrote and those that want to build a well designed and implemented MVP. Ā Iāve come to love cowboy coders and their war stories because these companies (if they survive for a year or two) can become potential clients. Ā Once a client has seen you untangle dirty code and build new features youāve earned a client for life.
Itās an interesting dynamic because once a business has millions of dollars in revenue then they donāt care to throw $100k-300k at solving a dirty code or refactoring problem. Ā Although a lot of companies donāt do this because theyād rather distribute this money in profits to shareholders. Ā If they do cleanup the code then they also understand the value of having code be flexibly designed from the start.
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