chrisbridgett

...just Googled it: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/148677/why-is...

Watching with interest... xD

Doesn't sound like too much work given that you've said the system works on either web scraping or with API's of other review sites? Obviously you wouldn't want to jeopardize Bistro in it's current format through generalizing the platform for other "industries", but if done right, looks like a good opportunity to me!

"We have successfully created the world's first fully functioning blogging platform built entirely with JavaScript."

Really? The world's first entirely JavaScript blogging platform? Google turns up plenty, albeit not quite as polished.

Then again, maybe it's just me that isn't creative enough to be able to come up with names other than "Test User", "Another User", "Somebody Else", etc. :-p

I know this is beside the point though. What I mean to say, is what can be done other than encryption and using tor-like networks for anonymity?

Nobody can be sure that they are/n't being watched, period. Heck, if it wasn't for Edward Snowden we'd still be none the wiser.

Whose to say there aren't dozens of other programs in place that aren't in the public eye?

It's not like you can even opt-out of holding accounts with large tech companies targeted by PRISM since it's easy for them to just tap your network traffic through ISPs.

As long as there is a government, nobody can be sure whether we are or aren't being watched. What 'fundamental change' could be made that would stop this?

If you're using an IP address then that sounds a little strange.

There are lots of reasons companies acquire other companies. More often than not it's for it's employee's and talent (then again, we don't know which market this is, so they may be considering entering the space, who knows?).

Number 2 depends on market size/saturation. How many CRM companies do you think there are out there? Thousands.

And finally number 3 - build your minimum viable product, get it out there, get feedback, test the waters. That's the only way you'll know for sure and you obviously believe in your idea, so I say go for it!

What are the SaaS company's founder(s)'s backgrounds? Have they launched and run a successful business before? Are you sure they really know what they're doing?

It sounds like you don't really stand to lose anything - you can continue your agency business whilst siphoning some of your teams hours off onto this project. On the other hand, if this other company has the 'vision' and all their needs catered for, except development, that leaves you in a somewhat weaker position (in my opinion) as they could pick any decent agency to do their development. Is their anything unique about your relationship/agency to them, other than having developed the MVP?

I'm not going to be able to advise you on a starting percentage since I have zero experience in negotiating these kinds of things, but I imagine this is all information anyone here would need to even take a vague stab-in-the-dark guess at a starting point for your negotiations.

That sounds more useful... but it's also something that most developers could probably build for themselves in a few minutes?

1. Grab page 2. Parse and find links 3. Make a request to each link 4. Return any links that are returning 4xx or 5xx.

Maybe there's a use for it where people want to test a particularly large set of pages/links making use of a data center's typically superior connection? shrug

I guess it's a question of whether you can provide a service that is good value for money (i.e. it saves time), when I can already whip some tests together relatively quickly during development of my API.

If this other company are a couple of guys that make some calls from their bedroom that are the 'sales/marketing' team, etc and the product is yet another CRM solution then you'll want a much larger percentage than if you're dealing with a company that has a number of staff, millions of dollars, etc to throw at this project, in which case you'd likely be proposing to take on a much smaller stake.

More info needed. :-)

How much you charge all comes back to how much your time is worth (and how much they're willing to pay if you're desperate for the work).

Are you confident enough to say 'this will take x hours'? If so, then charge per project and let's hope that you're right. If not, charge an hourly rate and give them some rough indication of how many hours you think it will take you.

In your past experience section I would highlight any positive contributions you made to projects you worked on there (without specifics) - i.e. 'Managed an $xxxx/month account'/'Increased monthly uniques by xMM or x% by using x technique' and so on.

On the plus side, the design is professional and it's not a gigantic wall of text. :)