Contract Guidelines

I have over two decades of experience in software engineering, data science, and project management across multiple platforms, technology stacks, and industries.

I’ve worked on solo projects, small team projects, and projects with diverse, international teams.

I have a PhD in computational genetics, and have worked on a number of projects that have required not only a sound understanding of software design and craftsmanship, but also a strong grasp of data science and statistical analysis.

Despite all of the above, I may not be the best fit for your project. 

Please read through these guidelines and review my portfolio of recent mobile app development, data science, and web development work.

Then if you still feel like you’d like to work with me, or have other questions, please get in touch.

Technical Strengths

While I’m fairly skilled at most general aspects of modern software development and data science, and can come up to speed on new technologies fairly quickly, here are areas I’m particularly experienced in:

How I Work

I perform all work remotely and am currently unavailable for continuous onsite work.

I do not subcontract or outsource any aspect of software development. If your team lacks a graphic designer, and your project requires complex graphic resources, I may commission those items from one or more trusted designers.

I strongly prefer email or Slack for discussing project specs, resolving questions, and other communications.

These mediums provide an automatic written record of discussions and decisions, and is less disruptive than synchronous strategy meetings.

However, for projects that last longer than one month, I am happy to schedule a regular progress call over Zoom or Skype, billed at my standard rate, if that is preferable.

I am generally never available to “jump on a call” at unscheduled times.

Rates & Payment Terms

My current rate for app development and data analytics work is $175 USD / hour.

I offer both fixed-cost and hourly billing, depending on the project.

I almost never work for equity or profit-sharing for pre-IPO companies.

Hourly Billing

I bill hourly for exploratory work, code assessments, data analytics work, and project maintenance (such as updating a project to support a new OS version).

Virtual and onsite meetings are also billed hourly. Onsite meetings are billed portal-to-portal, plus travel expenses.

Invoices are sent monthly, and are due within seven days.

Fixed-Cost Billing

I bill new project work using a fixed-cost estimate.

Fixed-cost projects have a pre-approved scope and deliverable schedule. So long as the scope and deliverable list doesn’t change, the cost shouldn’t either.

Invoices are sent according to the following schedule, and are due within seven days:

• 25% Due at initial contract signing.
• 50% Due upon delivery of testing prototype.
• 25% Due upon delivery of source code and other project assets.

Example Scenario

Imagine that you own a streaming service called Whimsey+.

You want to create an iOS app that looks good on both iPhones and iPads. Your app allows the user to log in, browse different categories of movies, search for specific titles, add favorites to a watch list, download movies for offline viewing, and of course, watch the actual content.

You already have an existing website powered by a server API, and you want the iOS app to use the same API.

My project estimate for an iOS app like this would be around 150 hours at $175 USD per hour.

Add another 150 hours if you also want an Android version.

Add another 50 hours if your website is pulling information directly from a database, and you need an API built for the mobile apps to use. (Mobile apps can’t talk to databases directly, they need an API to interface with.)

Add another 20 hours if you want users to be able to interact with one another through comments, followers, or to be able to integrate their accounts with a social network.

*These numbers are only approximations (though fairly reasonable ones). Actual estimates and costs will vary from project to project.

 Get in Touch

I hope we can work together! Please get in touch if you have any questions.