[apsurd]

Thank you for taking the time. Your dot-connection ability is well honed.

This is particular apt for me as I switch from employment from product consumer tech to a smaller-scale sales-led company.

What's your take on the forward-deployed engineer setup in the mind's of the startup as a long-term, viable/lucrative model? I've always heard the warning for tech startups to avoid the traps of becoming a consultancy.

[iajiboye]

That warning is still valid and prudent. Consultancies are highly customized one-time engagements that do not easily scale. Startups prefer to have long-term relationships built on useful software.

The difference of customization vs. implementation which is where the role of the FDE shines. A consultancy builds something specific for a customer whereas a startup builds general purpose software. The FDE can then act as a force multiplier in educating the customer on how to use the product to its full potential.

Essentially as AI is making software more commoditized (i.e, there's a billion notetaking apps for example), the ability to sell a solution and outcome that solves individual customer pain points while still supporting a unified product experience serves as a differentiator moat. If every platform in the market offers the same features, you'll go with the person that offers the best hightouch sales experience. This is why over time as startups scales, opex switches from eng to sales and marketing.