Comment by ef4 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ef4 | Hacker News Reader

> Is it possible to do it over a period of time? (keep current job and moonlight freelance gigs)

Yes, but you may need to pick a different job as an intermediate step: find a job that will let you interact meaningfully with wider open source communities.

The recipe is deceptively simple: (1) build things, (2) tell people about it, (3) repeat. You need a job that lets you do step 2.

I will also add that projects around "20/hr or less" are not just quantitatively too low-paying, they are qualitatively the wrong kind of projects. A $300/hr consultant is not just a more expensive version of a $20/hr web developer -- it's an entirely different job.

The actual technology layer involved in either case might be the same, but the "interface" between you and your clients is different. The high-priced consultant exposes a much higher-level interface that is closer to the business problem domain.

How is a $300/hr consultant a different job? I'd love to learn more about what people do to get those kinds of rates / contracts. Do you know of any links / good blogs?

patio11's stuff is pretty much spot on.

You need to solve business problems that people don't necessarily know how to solve by themselves. Generally you do this by applying your technology expertise, but that is not what matters to the client.

Don't model your business on the freelancers at oDesk. Model it on McKinsey, Accenture, Bain, etc. Look at how those companies describe themselves. You will necessarily be operating at a smaller scale than them. But that still leaves an awful lot of room.

One key point is that the client does not hand you a spec to implement. The client only has a problem, they don't know how to solve it, or are unsure of how to decide. You come in and teach them what's possible and then help them do it.

I find my clients through networking. Mostly it starts through people who know my open source work and appreciate that I've been helpful to them already, but also some random meetings with entrepreneurs who were looking for technology advice. From there, one project leads to another as people talk to each other or change jobs.

>Don't model your business on the freelancers at oDesk. Model it on McKinsey, Accenture, Bain, etc. Look at how those companies describe themselves. You will necessarily be operating at a smaller scale than them. But that still leaves an awful lot of room.

Thanks for mentioning this comment. I didn't think to do this, but I'll start reading a bit on these companies and try to model myself a bit more like them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com