
Problematic business relationships - dmistrio
https://medium.com/@dimist/problematic-business-relationships-44dc00aeb05c
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lotsofmangos
_" We don’t need to have developers in our software company, we can outsource
the function and keep only a product owner who would know the history of the
project. Only the relationship with the paying clients is necessary the rest
are expenses. Imagine yourself as a developer or graphic designer or system
administrator in a company like this."_

I don't have to imagine, it accurately describes about 90% of the technical
companies I have ever worked for in the UK. That and silos, where they never
hire more than one person per business function and working collaboratively
with others is seen as a sign that you are not good enough to do the task on
your own.

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dmistrio
Oh yes the silos. PMs whose only function is to shield the client from "dev-
speak" so that (1) nobody will complain when client asks for BS, (2) can help
to subsidise dev with a cheaper one... Silos also help that if devs talk to
each other, they might start talking about Emperor's clothes.

~~~
lotsofmangos
I remember showing one manager an article on 'extreme programming'. His view
was that it was just a way for programmers to cheat him out of money and only
do half the amount of work, given only one person types at a time.

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tomblomfield
> most British IT businesses end up becoming consultancies

> [programmers/designers/ops] marginalized as second class citizens

I think these trends were probably true in the past, and were driven by the
investment environment in the UK.

10 years ago, early-stage investment was pretty hard to come by in the UK and
investors were hyper-focussed on companies that could show early revenue. As a
result, many entrepreneurs were forced to bootstrap, and consulting revenue
was the only way to make ends meet.

However, things are clearly changing. We've had some breakout successes this
year (Transferwise, Funding Circle) and some new entrants in the early-stage
funding landscape (Entrepreneur First, Mosaic, Hoxton et al). Investors seem
more willing back young, technical founders pursuing riskier projects.

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themartorana
We're in the U.S. (East Coast) and are bootstrapped, and the hardest thing to
do is keep your eye on the ball and off of consulting. There's easy money
there - we get _asked_ to build software by other businesses, and most in our
circle look at consulting as the thing you do to save a failing business while
you figure out what's next.

That said, it's probably the thing that can be counted as the final nail in
the coffin. While consulting can halt a failing business from total wipeout,
in reality it's a softens the landing, but I've yet to see a business recover
and hop back in to the product game.

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Herpyderp666
"Looking inwards I have observed that what is considered important is not as
much as it should be functions that are related with the end product or
service such as programming or design, or generally what’s happening at the
assembly line." What?

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dmistrio
Rewrote it. Apologies.

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scandox
Small correction: it is Tim Berners-Lee not Burners Lee

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dmistrio
Corrected. Thanks!

