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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Great words by JD! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>When I first started estimating work, I found I was almost always woefully short, so I started doubling my estimates. Still short, so I started multiplying by 4, then by 8 (yes, I was often off by a factor of 8). Still often short, so I changed to estimating the number of lines of code I’d write and using that as the number of hours I’d spend. Rarely was I short after that. This DOES, however, require that you know enough about the project to be able to estimate the number of lines of code…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>One other comment – I once took a fixed-bid contract. I quit keeping track of my hours once I was making under $1/hour… <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:navy'>I was off by at LEAST a factor of 20, probably more (this was VERY early in my contracting life, and I was only charging about $25/hour back 30 or so years ago). So estimating is hard, and getting the number within a factor of 2 is probably impossible without a VERY good specification.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>JD Austin<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, March 24, 2014 7:05 AM<br><b>To:</b> Main PLUG discussion list<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: looking for some project advice for a startup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#3333FF'>I'll 3rd on documentation... even if you do it yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>….</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>