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I've made this transition from product R&D to product design consulting. As far as your concerns about variety, it probably depends on what clients/projects your sales team is bringing in. As far as depth, again, this probably depends on the project - my experience was that I was getting much more depth and breadth, typically working on green development and having to figure out the hard stuff up front (like, can this actually be done?) Typically, I'd work on the first 90%, and the client would do the maintenance/sustaining. On the plus side, if you have a client or project that you dislike, you only have to hang on for the term of the contract - 6 mos / year for light at the end of the tunnel. In terms of concerns about boilerplate, my recommendation would be to turn the boilerplate into a library, and sell your customer licenses - you will be more competitive this way, and your margins will be better - it's a win-win (have had success with this). One thing to remember is that in the product company, everyone is on the same team, and you work together. With a client, each one is different, and the relationship varies, but typically boils down to "I paid you a lot of money, where's my stuff?" Be very careful what you commit to with customers, and that anything you do commit to is spelled out clearly and fully in the contract. That was the first important thing I learned. Good luck.