Robert Dempsey - Latest Comments in When To Say NO To A Project

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

Robert Dempsey — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:42:01 -0000

@Paul Klipp: Hi Paul, you make a great point. Working with customers who have a long-term vision and a plan to make it happen increase the chances for success, and our satisfaction with what we create.

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

paulklipp — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:31:35 -0000

At some point, our company got to the point where demand was much higher than we could possibly supply without lowering our standards and I began turning down or re-directing most of our prospects. More than anything else these days, I am looking for projects likely to succeed in the market and I find that the management team is more important than the idea for evaluating the chances of a project being successful. So now after discussing the project, I ask to review the marketing plan and to meet the management team before I take on a project. Because while all projects pay, we're not really in it for the money, are we? Nothing beats the satisfaction of hundreds of thousands of satisfied users clicking away at your work.

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

cschultz — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:09:10 -0000

Great post, and I agree, the notion of taking equity for investment is just one that takes careful consideration.

Here are some others that we consider:

* is the project from scratch, or have framework or architecture decisions already been made leading to "lock-in"

* what is the ongoing relationship? is the project likely to require maintenance? is the client willing to commit to a reasonable contract for that or do they want to be free and clear but be able to call you any time they need a "tweak"

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

Leon Bogaert — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 06:09:57 -0000

@Chris Scott: I think your last point is tricky. After all, you're not an investor.

We have a customer that was going to sell herbs/spices via a website. I thought it would be a total failure. ' Cause after all, who buys spices from a website?

But now, a year later, it's a big success!

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

Robert Dempsey — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:59:47 -0000

Great additions Chris, thanks.

Re: When To Say NO To A Project

Chris Scott — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:15:18 -0000

Clients that talk about how bad their last developer was or mention their lawsuit against them. Don't think you'll be any different when they're done w/you.

Clients that want you to sign an onerous NDA before they'll tell you anything. I'm all for NDAs, but if you can't explain the basics to me w/out one that signals you either don't trust me or will be a total PITA. Either way...

Clients that ask you to do trade-out for their product/service or equity. I'm a developer not an investor. Also, this tells me that you don't have any money and couldn't convince anyone to give you any.

Projects that I don't feel will be successful. I want a challenge as well as something that I'm proud to point out when I'm done. I also want to be able to point to it in 6 months to a year and have the client doing well and still be in business.