

Show HN: I'm offering consulting for non-technical folks and startups - kylebragger

Inspired by a good friend who did Unstick.me, as well as the recent MVP for 1k project, I've decided to give consulting a shot by offering my services as a developer and product guy to non-technical folks and early-stage web startups who are looking to brainstorm on both the technology and product side, and possibly looking to have an MVP built based on their idea.<p>I started accepting requests the other day solely with a Wufoo form, and just launched a proper one-page site here: http://youshouldworkwith.me/<p>Curious to hear feedback on the offer and idea in general. It's the first time I've tried any kind of "alternative" consulting like this.
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jkahn
Good luck Kyle. It will be interesting to hear if you get any takers.

One thing I wonder is if the kind of people that would take up an offer like
this have the means to pay for it. As in: do the "idea guys" that can't find
technical guys have enough money?

One angle you might want to consider is the sanity check - going over the
technical merit of an idea/early stage product/architecture. This could be for
both the idea guy and technical guy. A company that is a bit further along
would have more cash.

And for those on about the rates: that rate for two hours is not bad.

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kylebragger
Thank you. I actually already have about 15-20 hours scheduled (most prior to
launching the actual one page site), plus a couple entries on the MVP form.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to angle this, but my ideal
customer is an "idea guy" who does have the means to pay, an interesting idea,
and "gets it" with regard to what it actually takes to build a product.

I do like the idea about involving some kind of idea sanity check, though I'm
kind of doing that as folks contact me — I'd rather tell them that it's not
really a viable idea as is, and spend a little time working through that, vs.
take their money for the 2 hours or MVP product just because I can.

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weirdcat
Simple and clean, both the offer and the site; I like it.

You might want to think about some kind of satisfaction guarantee. I for once
might have a problem shelling out $400 for a 2h talk with a guy I never worked
with without one. I'd actually make it a "money back plus a beer on me"
guarantee.

If you had a stackoverflow account I'd definitely link to it; too bad it's not
possible with Forrst.

I'd also publish your HN karma. Seriously. A big, automagically updating
number, showing that you really _are_ about community, sharing, brainstorming
and all that jazz. :)

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kylebragger
Thank you. I think that's a great idea — I'll update the site right now. Neat
idea re: karma, though not sure how much weight that would have for the types
of folks I (think) I'm targeting. Couldn't hurt, either way though!

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weirdcat
Ah, a good question to ask your non-technical clients then: what community
sites like HN do _they_ peruse?

Anyway, I know that if I'd seen a "karma" number over 1k, I'd be impressed
even if I had no idea what it meant.

~~~
kylebragger
Definitely a great question to ask. Re: the karma - couldn't hurt to throw
that up there then.

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jmarbach
I like this consulting idea, but wouldn't you agree that the power of
collaborative feedback via a question on HN is more powerful than a $200 hour
with one person? Just my 2cents.

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kylebragger
Thanks. I think that it's likely a combination of both. Also, I'm looking to
help so-called idea guys - folks who probably don't use HN, but have an idea
with potential, and a little capital to throw at it. FWIW, folks who turn to
HN for guidance and feedback probably aren't the target demographic anyway,
and they certainly wouldn't need my help :)

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weirdcat
I wouldn't cross the hackers out. People who hang out here are usually aware
of all the technical/organizational challenges of building a scalable website
with great UX, but lots of us could use some one on one guidance from someone
experienced every now and then.

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stevederico
Looks Great. Good Luck Kyle. BTW I am a loving user of Forrst. That being
said, I think your link to forrst is buried too low in the copy. Maybe put it
up top with something like "I can help you make products like this...LINK".
Just took me a while to see the Forrst link and make the connection.

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kylebragger
Clickable: <http://youshouldworkwith.me/>

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vs2
› 2 hours of consulting for $399. Are you for real??

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disponsible
It's a reasonable rate, but it would normally require a better resume
_presentation_ than what's there at the moment. Great to know that Kyle did
all this stuff, but what's more relevant is what he did _exactly_. Did he draw
the ranger guy for Forrst or did he plan the server hardware allocation or did
he just hack on some code... that sort of thing.

I've seen my share of product consultants, and they primarily specialize in
invoicing. There are some exceptions, of course, but generally the amount of
BS/hour is very depressing. The site needs to do a better job to explain that
Kyle is not of their kind.

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kylebragger
I agree that I'm not exactly selling myself well enough. Wondering if it's
worth showing that on this site, or just discussing in more detail with
interested parties. I do agree that I'm not doing the best job of setting
myself aside from the invoice pros.

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dawson
I like the website, clean design and to the point. Great domain too. Good
luck!

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mapster
I would start out lower. Gain some feedback (testimonials) then ramp up the
rate. As it is, I don't know you from adam.

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kylebragger
Point certainly taken. I actually (surprisingly?) have a bunch scheduled, so
presuming all goes well, I'll have some real feedback and hopefully folks
vouching for what I'm doing.

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whatevers2009
languages and db experience?

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kylebragger
I thought about adding that but didn't want to emphasize one technology stack
over another, at least not on the one-pager.

That being said: PHP, Ruby, some Python; Mysql, Postgres, Mongo.

