Here’s a version that’s IMO much simpler still, about half as long as both (after fixing v2’s line count cheating), and fixes a bug: both article versions wait an extra 60 seconds between the last attempt and returning an error.

    func do(ctx context.Context) error {
        for attempt := 1; ; attempt++ {
            if request(ctx) == nil {
                return nil
            }

            if attempt == 10 {
                return fmt.Errorf("failed after %d attempts", attempt)
            }

            select {
            case <-ctx.Done():
                return ctx.Err()
            case <-time.After(time.Second *
                min(60, math.Pow(2, attempt-1)*(0.75+rand.Float64()*0.5))):
            }
        }
    }

I think the problem with the original isn’t using a formula, it’s over-parameterization. Declaring constants right next to where they’re used once isn’t giving you anything but the opportunity for naming issues and rigidity in how you combine them. If they aren’t passed in or repeated, then I wouldn’t pull them out; if they are, then I’d try to look for minimal and natural boundary points, like just min and max, or maybe an attempt → delay function.