Top Coders Tell Agents, "Show Me the Money!" 288
theodp writes "So, you're a 10x developer or a 25x programmer, but not getting paid like one? Keep your chin up! BusinessWeek reports that Silicon Valley is going Hollywood and top software developers can now get their very own agent through 10x Management, which bills itself as 'the talent agency for the technology industry.'"
Follow the money (Score:2, Interesting)
Developers who want to be paid really well should do what I did, go where the money is.
First step, learn the ropes [google.com.br].
Second step, use your knowledge of software to program your way to riches.
Standard agents' cut (Score:2, Interesting)
These guys take the same cut as hollywood or sports agents do: 15%
Say you're a top flight programmer with an expected $150K+ salary... that's over $25K a year to the agent. Not a bad deal at all for them.
Re:"Hollywood wages" = Unions. (Score:5, Interesting)
Hollywood doesn't make a profit. Just ask any studio accountant~
You are correct. Funny, I'm in a software union and I work 40 hour weeks and make a livable wage. I find that when paid by the hour the amount of extra work you must do after 40 hours approaches zero.
Did you know most software developer who are paid salary shouldn't be?
So, software developers using agents (Score:4, Interesting)
And that's supposed to be news?
Common practice for high-end/specialist freelancers here in northern europe at least.
I commonly work with one agent(who's also my lawyer), and sometimes with another agent, in a slightly different field. In fact, if you get a trustworthy agent, it's one of the best way to sort out the "grinders"(clients who try to pile on more and more work on a project), scammers and other undesirables.
In fact, those two agents and those of us who use their services have formed a guild of sorts, blacklisting bad clients, blacklisting devs who negatively impact the reputation of freelancers by being scammers or just failures, helping each other out in case of sickness, or just the need for a vacation, yet we still compete with each other in bids for projects etc, so yes, it requires blacklisting out the sociopaths that can't cooperate.
Might not work quite as well in the US though, US geeks seeming content with being exploited and seeing banding together in mutual defense as anathema......
Re:Can we just have unions already? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:can I get (Score:5, Interesting)
10x Management has found me gigs in the last year, after I'd been doing freelance Rails work for the year prior to that. I can tell you one thing for sure, there is a big difference between their agency and your typical headhunter. Ever try finding an actual short-term contract gig through a headhunter? It doesn't happen. Headhunters are not incentivized for that sort of thing. They want to get you into a full time position so they can score a percentage of your salary as a reward. So it follows that they aren't really looking out for the needs of freelancers.
10x Management, on the other hand, gets a cut of your hourly rate; they're setup for exactly what a freelancer needs. They do a great job of representing you in negotiations so you can earn as high a rate as possible, which of course increases their own cut as well. And they're always looking for new gigs for you so you don't have to. If you're not getting paid, neither are they, which makes for a much more rewarding long-term relationship compared with a headhunter who just wants to get you placed in some salary, take their cut, and move on. 10x also takes care of the dirty work that comes with freelancing, from invoicing and making sure you get paid as agreed to mediating if expectations are not met on either side of the relationship. I feel that eliminating the burden of the administrative drudgery that comes with freelancing is alone well worth their cut.
Overall, I understand your cynicism, especially since an agent and a headhunter look quite similar on a superficial level, and I certainly share your disdain for the vast majority of headhunters. But, in this particular case, I would say that cynicism is unwarranted. Headhunters and freelancers just don't mix. Speaking from experience, 10x has done a good job of filling that gap.
Re:I was wondering when this was going to happen. (Score:1, Interesting)
I've done work with 10x Management in the past year, and I can attest that it is well worth it to have them as an extra pair of eyes looking out for your next gig. They also handle negotiation, mediation, and making sure your invoices are fulfilled as agreed. Definitely worth it. If you want to get in touch with them, let them know Chris V gave you the recommendation. :)
Re:can I get (Score:5, Interesting)
Without getting too detailed, I'll say that they've negotiated rates for me which are above what I'd get on average representing myself, even after their cut. Considering that I didn't have to do any of the extra work of finding the gig, negotiating the contract (besides specifying what I will and won't do in general terms), handling the paperwork, or invoicing, it's been a very profitable arrangement for myself. If you've done a significant amount of freelance work, you'll well know that this extra overhead cuts significantly into your time.
Re:"Hollywood wages" = Unions. (Score:4, Interesting)
Which doesn't mean that we don't regularly not comply with these regulations. But that is done in agreement with the employees who in turn have the option to opt out and will get handsome bonuses in pay and time off for overtime.
A couple of my clients have serious issues with the bills we send them. We bill by the hour nicely broken down by day and activity. We often get ourselves into death marches for which we will take higher hourly rates and need double the effort in project management. Last year I myself had a period where I worked 16 hrs a day each day for a couple of weeks and during the Christmas holidays(and went on a nice long vacation on the bonuses we divided amongst us and time off due to amassed overtime). The client was the Asian tentacle of one of our larger corporate behemoths. The European HQ told us not to bill more than 10 hrs a day and nothing for Sunday because their working agreements also extended to contractors. We got official encouragement to invent employees to divide that time more evenly.
In short you need regulation. Best way to do it is having an agreement between unions and employers. Worse way would be to have regulation by law. And yu are thouroughly fux0red if you need a legally mandated minimum wage to make sure that your people can actually LIVE on what they earn during 40hrs a week.
Salaried pay only is bad when your market for employment is heavily stacked against the employees.
Programmers != coders (Score:4, Interesting)
To many, coders are programmers
They aren't
Programmers program - from the inception phase all the way to the completion
Coders, on the other hand, only code, as instructed
That 10X management agency can't even differentiate the two