[gk1]

Not sure what you mean exactly. I never work through RFPs, and that's the point. If you find someone who really needs your help (not just anyone), they will get you through the necessary hoops and deal with bureaucracy on your behalf.

[himynameisdom]

Are you saying those who go to RFP to keep cost control transparent really don't need the help? It's also kind of egotistical to assume a company needs you and you alone to solve their problem. If the problem is big and important enough, rest assure there's more than one shop that has an idea as to how to fix it.

I also think we're talking apples to oranges. A one person shop may approach contracts differently than a shop with 13 across 3 time zones.

[barry-cotter]

> It's also kind of egotistical to assume a company needs you and you alone to solve their problem. If the problem is big and important enough, rest assure there's more than one shop that has an idea as to how to fix it.

How is it egotistical to say that you’re good enough at what you do that people will make their bureaucratic procedures go away to get you to work for them? It’s either true or it isn’t. The number of people who are literally the only person who can solve a given problem will always be minuscule but being one of the top five people in a very expensive niche is an achievable goal. Being the only one of those people with a public profile and a consulting practice is also achievable.

Think of academic expertise. I’m confident people go to Peter Norvig and ask him as an individual with incredibly deep, broad and publicly known Algorithms skills to do work for them and if they make it too bureaucratic he just declines the work. Likewise economists like Alvin Roth with mechanism design or other hairy, expensive and lucrative problems.

This model of being very good and being known to be very good works for individuals. I’d be shocked if there aren’t one man consulting shops that bill $1m a month, very expensive expertise exists, at a minimum in finance. They probably have a secretary but a principle plus minimal support staff consultancy.

[gk1]

Yeah we're too far into the weeds here... My only goal was to say that hourly billing is not always a requirement, even when dealing with large orgs.