[mariawatson44]

The most important thing in my point of view is that you should always "OWN" the project and work like as your own. This is what I learned from my career

[coreymaass]

I often promoted myself as a "CTO for hire" with that sort of attitude. Definitely helps.

[chris_hawk]

"CTO for hire" sounds like pretty unforgiving work! It's a good thing you keep strong boundaries, it's wild out there.

[coreymaass]

I actually got a lot better response, in that my opinion was valued higher. Compared to being considered a mere code monkey.

[chris_hawk]

This is important, and IMO it's the thing that most freelancers neglect. They freelance the same way they did their last W2 job - waiting for the boss to tell them what to do.

Freelancing requires a whole 'nother type of thinking and self-accountability. It's one of the most common things I end up mentoring freelancers on.