As a C# developer, have you looked at Xamarin? I have done several apps with it, shared code between iOS and Android. I highly recommend you give them a try.
3,131 karma · joined February 20, 2010
I own Fern Creek Software, we make software for other people usually on the Microsoft stack.
http://ferncreeksoftware.com
Twitter: @keithwarren
Email: keithwarren7 at hotmail or gmail
The Forms work in Xamarin 3 seems lined up to make that pitch even easier and will likely help Xamarin grow into the enterprise even faster as ease of management in the code base is going to be a major driver in decisions for IT shops that now have to support a much more diverse platform set than they did in the days when a website was good enough.
They are just making a bet that tight coupling to a singular platform does not give them the agility they want for the future. This may also be a trial balloon. If this goes well you may see other things in the Microsoft stack make similar changes.
Often times this is a pattern, the person on the other end feels like they need to get a win in some form and the easiest and most obvious to them is always pricing.
Find out why they are asking this question, find out what they really want - 8 out of 10 times for me, it is just them asking because it would be dumb not to ask. Explain your rates, be open and honest about them. If they feel like your rates are too high for them then be willing to negotiate.
It is incredibly important that you negotiate, so many other people I talk to simply balk and let their rates come down some. This is insanity, it is surrender not negotiating. I always, always ask for something in return if I am giving up something and do my best to make sure what I get in return is more valuable than the money discount they are asking for. Often time I use this as a segue with a customer to discuss retainer billing models. Most people balk at it but if it is part of a give and take over the rate they will embrace it. Give me the choice of a project with pre-paid hours at 150/hr vs NET 30 at 165 and I am choosing the 150 all day long.
Another point, if you relax your rate - sunset the change. 'I am willing to do this project at $150/hr but only for this project - future work we do together will revert to the $165/hr rate'. Put it in writing.
I am game, when do we start!
update: Some further thoughts on cost.
Looking at what I pay for my home (some of these I use, some I have had quoted; I also factored a monthly cost out of some of these which are quarterly). My home is upper-middle class in the midwest, about 5K square feet on 1/2 acre.
Lawn mowing: $150/mo Lawn treatment: $40/mo Pest control: $35/mo HVAC maintenance: $30/mo House cleaning: $300/mo General maintenance: $100/mo
I would certainly pay a premium for a single end point for managing these services but that last one is the stickler. Some people will never call but you will have those who want a maintenance person for every creaking floorboard, dripping faucet and other little nuance of the home.
I think the idea has lots of merit, would love to know what others think.
So many services offer a free tier, maybe 5gb for free and then you pay after that. Some are much higher. Build sort of a proxy to these services so that you have a distributed and large free online storage system.
This was an idea my team had last year when we were looking closely at a photo organization and management startup. We had won a startup competition, had investors tender offers but in the end we decided not to pursue the idea primarily because the storage business absolutely sucks, and photo systems are inherently storage businesses. This idea of 'BYOS' (Bring your own storage) was one of the hacks we thought up to get around the problem but in the end customer discovery taught us that the idea had too much friction for most people. Tech folks loved it, 35 year old moms didn't.
You can simply start with a few of the larger players, use the service to connect your free DropBox, Google Drive and OneDrive accounts. There may even be a monetization option wherein as you approach saturation of the storage you push the user to sign up with a specific vendor for a discounted deal and that other vendor can be a partner company or your own storage medium.
It has to be simple and transparent though, you still want people to have that simply sync experience regardless of where the file is stored and they should be able to view all the files across all the services at one time, regardless of where they are physically stored.
So, what gives? What is the nature of the mono problem and who is responsible?
I dont mean to offend but this kind of reaction to pricing almost always comes from people with little to no money, traction, revenue etc.
The reality is, when you have a game in the market, costs like $75/mo or even 225/mo for iOS/Android targets - that cost does not even cross your mind. It is less than the cost of a single developer for a single day.
When you reach a certain point, say your mid-30s and you have kids your financial obligations can extend far beyond what people think is necessary to 'live on'. You have retirement contributions, savings for college, long term care for family (most people believe it or not, have to help their parents out at some point).
Sorry.
In all seriousness I have been on my own for almost 15 years and I first made the leap by securing a contract from a client of my former employer. My employer was ok with it because they were moving in a different direction so the first step out the door was like having a job but I changed status from employee to contractor. The wonderful thing was the customer got me for cheaper than they were paying my employer and I got a big raise. Definition of a 'win-win'.
For most people you are going to have to get out there and do some sales work but what I suggest to people making this leap is to sell yourself to an agency, not individual customers. There are lots of consulting firms who need people and they are afraid to bring on full time work because their variations in work are often from contract to contract. If they land a gig for 4 people and 6 months of work yet only have 3 people they have to spend the time and money to go out and hire someone - then once the gig is done they have to keep that person busy. If they can find someone who will work on the project as a sub-contractor it is much more valuable to them.
Doing sub-contract work like this is a great way to give you steady income while you network and build a portfolio of direct customers where you can make better margins.
Another thing I would advise, realize that your rate represents a perceived value. If I tell you my rate is $40/hr then you think one thing - if I tell you my rate is $195 per hour you freak out, say that is crazy and then think - this guy must be amazing if people pay him that. It changes the mindset and even if you cannot get them signed at 195, it makes 150 sound like a bargain. The catch - you have to be worth it.
But you are asking the wrong questions. It is almost never the language that matters, it is the framework.
As a webdev, Rails or NodeJS would be good. Meteor is getting more and more interesting and if you want to stay employed and well paid for the next 20 years knowing asp.net would not hurt.
I am curious how truly different Silicon Valley is versus other areas. While we give lip service to the idea of failure being OK, the reality is in most places it is destructive to your long term prospects.
I am from the midwest and around here there is a very cliquey mindset. Hang in and around the startup communities and you will see the people who claim to be investors, the people who actually are investors, the people who claim to be founders/entreprenuers and the people actually doing something. Then there are the posers, always around trying to be part of the game and gossiping about every founder, judging every idea and trying to generally be seen as part of the in-crowd. It is like high school only with serious money involved. I point all this out to say that this clique mindset gives lip service to the idea of failure or pivots being OK but in reality - you just blew it. You didn't have what it takes. You are really no good. Your idea sucked. etc etc etc.
What is worse is that breaking into the funding market is rather difficult unless you have a success story under your belt. Started a company and exited (even if a meager acquihire) then you get an instant seat at the table. On the flip side, if you failed - that failure acts as a noose going forward.
Like I said, I am really curious if SV is truly different or people like to think it is different and market it as different when in reality it is the same high school clique show that I see around here.
I hope it is different, I truly do.
Folks, this is a very big deal for Microsoft. Who would have imagined this 10 years ago?
Here is an image that shows what they are putting into the community https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkT9oBcCQAAHIAV.jpg:large