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by a13n 3384 days ago
Or charge 20% of what you save them over the next year. This way you're charging more overall (especially if their costs are growing). Also your revenue will be more recurring rather than a one time thing. And by the time the 12 months is up, maybe they'll need your service again. :P
1 comments
a13n 3384 days ago
Also as a SaaS founder running on AWS, I would totally do this once our AWS bill is in the 4-5 figures.
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QuinnyPig 3384 days ago
It's almost like clockwork. Companies start wondering around $10K a month; they start doing something about it at $50K a month. I can almost set my watch by it.

This turns into a fun parlor trick when I can estimate a client's bill based upon the story they tell me!

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vacri 3384 days ago
We got pinged by our CEO to reduce our AWS bill which was $8k at the time. After a bit of work, we got it down by a little over a grand. One lunch, he said "guys, what are you doing about that bill?"... "What, we got it down by over a grand!"... "Yeah, but the exchange rate has gone the other way..."

Gotta love the Australian dollar. The Australian economy is solid - about to set a world record for longest continuing period without recession, including the GFC years - but the AUD swings around like a mad animal.

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user5994461 3384 days ago
The savings are too miserable to pay a consultant.

Remember that he has to charge at least $1000 a day. He's more expensive than your entire bill.

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QuinnyPig 3384 days ago
Right. Surprisingly, the comment you're responding to resembles some of my clients. This is a business problem.

In this case it's not "save us a few grand" that they're asking for-- the real ask is "help us analyze and forecast our spend as we continue to grow." Identify the knobs and dials that impact infrastructure costs, devise a costing model that states "each additional user costs $X to service," identify what makes sense to arbitrage between AWS and other providers / on-prem...

If I'm being honest, "lower the bill" is where it starts, but not nearly where it ends. :-)

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user5994461 3384 days ago
Agreed, consulting is more than just lowering the bill once.

That doesn't change that they don't have the funds to pay the fees though.

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