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Four things I hold myself to
The plan before the code
Nothing gets built until the scope stage has produced a backlog, an estimate, and a decision memo you have read and challenged. This is the step most projects skip, and it is where most projects fail.
Tell you what not to build
The most valuable line in a decision memo is usually a deletion. If off-the-shelf software covers a piece of your problem, the memo names the product and moves on.
Small systems, well kept
I size architecture for the load you have, not the load a pitch deck imagines. Boring technology, tests, monitoring, and a deploy that does not require me to be awake.
You own everything
The plan, the code, the infrastructure accounts, the documentation. If we stop working together tomorrow, you lose a vendor, not your system.
Work I turn down
Saying no early is cheaper for you than a bad engagement, so here is where I say it up front:
- "Build exactly this spec, no questions." If I cannot challenge the plan, I cannot stand behind the result, and you would be paying consultant rates for typing.
- Ten developers by next quarter. Some projects genuinely need an agency's bench. When yours does, I will say so on the first call and tell you what to look for in one.
- Software for a problem that is not a software problem. If the bottleneck is customers, pricing, or a person, a system will not fix it, and the useful thing I can do is decline and say why.