Reply to: In the process of landing my first contract (hopefully) and have a newbie question?

[mrv]

OP, it looks like you want to do it despite all the warnings, probably just to get that 'I'm a contractor' pin on your chest. You want adventure, and there you will get some. A bit silly and rushed into IMO, but fair enough. Think about your finances though. You have mentioned you're in a poorly paid permie role now, would taking this gig mean you have to leave, or could you do it in the evenings / weekends? If you have to leave, what are your prospects of landing another job, if the contract falls through? Do you have a warchest big enough to cover for 3 months without any income? Good thing it's summer, so your gas bill will not come to kill you straight away...

[stek]

New Delhi? FFS bin it now.......

[DeathRay1977]

And the warnings about being screwed over and small starts up being a risk mean nothing. Sometimes I don't know why we bother.

Nope... It means a lot. I am very grateful for everbody's input. I was being a little flippant.

[northernladuk]

I dunno, £400 a day, working from home... Coding in my underpants... Sounds pretty sweet to me.

And the warnings about being screwed over and small starts up being a risk mean nothing. Sometimes I don't know why we bother.

[DeathRay1977]

Am really not seeing anything that could be deemed as 'too good to be true' here. More like a case of trying to dodge a bullet.

I dunno, £400 a day, working from home... Coding in my underpants... Sounds pretty sweet to me.

[TykeMerc]

My limit for dumping a contract at this stage was the request of a 4th interview.

The agent wasn't happy but I pointed out that if they couldn't decide after 3 interviews, I definitely could.

Nicely clear way to put it really.

[cojak]

My limit for dumping a contract at this stage was the request of a 4th interview.

The agent wasn't happy but I pointed out that if they couldn't decide after 3 interviews, I definitely could.

[northernladuk]

Am really not seeing anything that could be deemed as 'too good to be true' here. More like a case of trying to dodge a bullet.

[DeathRay1977]

Some links worth a read first.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...-start-up.html

Actually sod it... All the links are in here somewhere.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=st...spv=1&ie=UTF-8

P.s. have you talked rates yet or are they going to offer you equity?

As an update, I had a second interview with them last week. This time with the CEO. We have a verbal agreement on a daily rate which is a fair one. He said he will talk to his CTO who is based in New Delhi. I get an email from CTO asking me to attend an overview of their product over Skype this week. His actual words were "This will help you to understand the product better and will be good for all of us to decide next step in terms of your engagement". So he makes it sound like some sort of longer techie interview. I replied to him saying I would be interested in seeing his presentation but I don't get home from work until 6pm and will be available from 6:30 onwards. He has arranged it for 7:15 on Tuesday. Which is 11:45 pm in New Delhi. I am going to play it very cagey. Enough to sound like I know what I am talking about without giving them too much freebie information. I still get the feeling it will all fall through at any moment. You know what they say... If it looks to good to be true then it probably is.

[Snarf]

Ill bet they offer to pay you in stock too.
If they cant afford to pay you for all of your time you're going to run into issues further down the line.

[psychocandy]

Deffo taking the piss. Wants something for free. Chances are this will never be a payer....

Remember this guy might be successful. Reason probably is because hes good at getting things for free and not paying for them.

I'm thinking this guy is smelling new contractor and seeing what he can get.

[BlasterBates]

90% of startups fail.

90% Of Startups Fail: Here's What You Need To Know About The 10%

If it doesn't work out you lose at least one months pay, if it does you won't have a life.

[oliverson]

This is the kind of thing you do after you've become disillusioned with contracting, have a large warchest and are looking for something a bit different. As a newbie looking to get in on the contracting scene, I'd look elsewhere.

[filthy1980]

surprised the CEO is willing to share their IP with you without firstly asking you to sign an NDA

my advise would be that if you think the business has legs as a start up and you like the look of their IP, negotiate some equity and keep your perm job, work on the startup in your own time,

best not to throw all your eggs into a startup, look at it as an investment, your skills and time for potential larger financial rewards later down the line (i.e. if they're sold funded)

[heyya99]

I worked for 2 years at a start up. Apart from the lack of organisation, the company ran out of money and I wasn't paid for 3 months (I eventually was). Never again.