I would accept the authors interpretation though haha
Conversation
They are not inconsistent 🙂
You operate in a new, leveled up way if you raise with risk, even if task is the same. Being on patrol in peacetime and in a war zone involve same basic behaviors, but latter requires heightened level. It’s a way to capture the meaning of the project
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I get the risk if you go from an hourly to outcome based engagement model, but what’s the risk in an hourly engagement model? What makes one client a $400/hr risk versus a $1000/hr?
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Ah, I see. That big a range has not come up for me personally since I tend to operate in a fairly tight risk range across clients. But a higher risk project is more likely to fail and just end the consultant’s gig if not the employee’s career.
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Though the subjective logic is more to get in the right headspace, you could also argue the case for pricing with risk in terms of NPV/DCF. A patrol job in peacetime can be expected to go on forever. A patrol job in a high conflict zone can be expected to kill you at some point.
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Got it, got it. Feels like you’re hitting two types of risk in an hourly engagement.
First, volatility. For example, war time patrol that might abruptly end is much more volatile than a peace patrol and deserves higher price.
Second, credibility. Not enough room to elaborate.
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Heh people who agree to work for Trump should charge more. They’re working under threat of prosecution, being unable to find work again due to reputations damage, and simply being thrown under the bus by the boss.
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I almost used this example, but a Trump reference is a guaranteed mood-killer when you’re going for a light tone 🙂
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A more innocuous example could be working for, say, an a solve for money finance dude in a suit versus a solve for meaning startup guy in a hoodie. Clearly you risk adjust up the first guy and down the second.
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That’s exactly the case where in the past I’ve priced up with risk... the few times I’ve done work with Wall Street I’ve generally charged ~25-50% premium. Discounting for a nonprofit is the same move in the other direction.


