[tomblomfield]

> most British IT businesses end up becoming consultancies

> [programmers/designers/ops] marginalized as second class citizens

I think these trends were probably true in the past, and were driven by the investment environment in the UK.

10 years ago, early-stage investment was pretty hard to come by in the UK and investors were hyper-focussed on companies that could show early revenue. As a result, many entrepreneurs were forced to bootstrap, and consulting revenue was the only way to make ends meet.

However, things are clearly changing. We've had some breakout successes this year (Transferwise, Funding Circle) and some new entrants in the early-stage funding landscape (Entrepreneur First, Mosaic, Hoxton et al). Investors seem more willing back young, technical founders pursuing riskier projects.

[themartorana]

We're in the U.S. (East Coast) and are bootstrapped, and the hardest thing to do is keep your eye on the ball and off of consulting. There's easy money there - we get asked to build software by other businesses, and most in our circle look at consulting as the thing you do to save a failing business while you figure out what's next.

That said, it's probably the thing that can be counted as the final nail in the coffin. While consulting can halt a failing business from total wipeout, in reality it's a softens the landing, but I've yet to see a business recover and hop back in to the product game.