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<h2 id="f9d2" class="graf graf--h3 graf--leading graf--title">The tough decision</h2>
<p id="962d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">In May of 2015, I was faced with a decision that many students have to go through after graduation:</p>
<ul>
<li class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Take a corporate job at a big company, and become one more little piece of a well-structured machine.</li>
<li class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Or take a risk and start my own company.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignnone wp-image-2810" src="http://www.prototypr.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/1b4945f1f04eae36f87be62f752d4001.jpg" alt="1b4945f1f04eae36f87be62f752d4001" width="362" height="271" srcset="https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153531/1b4945f1f04eae36f87be62f752d4001.jpg 543w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153531/1b4945f1f04eae36f87be62f752d4001-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 362px) 100vw, 362px" /></p>
<p id="3e45" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">When I graduated, I already had an offer on the table from a big software company. They promised good money, my transfer expenses paid for, and a bonus <em>just</em> for signing with them. Despite the security they provided, I knew I could create great technology <em>without</em> having to commit to someone else, and that I could help people from my community get closer to their dreams through <span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">software</span>.</p>
<p id="fc34" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last">Having made the decision to start a company, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/@vbalderas">Vicente Balderas</a> and I founded <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.disblu.com/">Disblu</a> with only one goal in mind:</p>
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<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Create great software to help as many people as we can.</em></p>
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<p class="section-divider layoutSingleColumn">These are some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.</p>
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<h2 id="b223" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">What should I charge for our services?</h2>
<p id="681c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Pricing is a really hard thing to figure out. Should I charge less, because we may not have as much experience? Or should I set prices high, because the competition does, and I believe we can offer something just as good? There are too many things to consider when it comes to compensated fairly.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2829" src="http://www.prototypr.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/dilbert_honesty.png" alt="dilbert_honesty" width="400" height="129" srcset="https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153605/dilbert_honesty.png 400w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153605/dilbert_honesty-300x97.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></p>
<p id="db46" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">What if we set prices too low, and our client thinks the quality will be poor? Or what if we&#8217;re too expensive, and the client believes they could get another company to do the same job for less?</p>
<p id="476f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We have come to a conclusion. We should charge for what we are &#8211; a team of engineers and designers who are qualified to fulfil the client’s expectations. The planning, analysis, design, development and testing we offer has great value. We are giving the client the execution of an idea.</p>
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<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We are not freelancers, we are a team of technology experts.</p>
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<h2 id="499c" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">It takes time to get the &#8216;<em>yes</em>&#8216;</h2>
<p id="8c43" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">When we started, we thought that after talking to a client, and getting them excited about what we could offer as a technology solution, it would take <em>at most</em> 1 week to actually get the ‘<em>Yes</em>’ needed to start the project.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Oh were we wrong!! We found that it can actually take somewhere between 2 weeks and 6 months. It mostly depends on how <em>big</em> the big company is, and how high up in the hierarchy the final decision has to be taken from.</p>
<p id="597b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The key is to not treat our business prospects as clients, but as partners &#8211; both working together over time to achieve a common goal.</p>
<h2 id="c259" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">Terms and conditions are complicated, but it’s better for everyone to have them</h2>
<p id="cffb" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Yes, we don’t understand most of the terms. Yes, we need a lawyer to help us with it.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2830" src="http://www.prototypr.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/dilbertnegotiations.png" alt="dilbertnegotiations" width="457" height="156" srcset="https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153608/dilbertnegotiations.png 1200w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153608/dilbertnegotiations-300x103.png 300w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153608/dilbertnegotiations-768x262.png 768w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153608/dilbertnegotiations-1024x350.png 1024w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153608/dilbertnegotiations-600x205.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 457px) 100vw, 457px" /></p>
<p id="77e0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We are engineers and designers, we have no idea how to start writing a contract, neither would we know how to react if a client decides to not pay for our services, or when the other party does not meet its obligations.</p>
<p id="85e6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Contracts, as well as being helpful on occasions such as the one outlined above, are necessary to help formalize the exchange of services for goods. They give the client assurance that we are going to deliver what’s expected of us, and it gives us the security that the payment dates are to be respected.</p>
<h2 id="ebb4" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">The less parties involved, the better</h2>
<p id="4879" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Software development is a complex process, even for an established team. Many of the initial requirements can become irrelevant during the life of a project, causing the design or code to change at any time. This can be complicated to keep track of, even for an experienced team that has worked together for a long time.</p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2831" src="http://www.prototypr.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/dilbert-email.jpg" alt="dilbert-email" width="475" height="143" srcset="https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153612/dilbert-email.jpg 492w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153612/dilbert-email-300x90.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px" /></p>
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<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">We found that when there is a problem, it&#8217;s better solved with the minimum number of people necessary (even better if it&#8217;s within the same team). That makes the problem solving faster and less error prone.</p>
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<h2 id="1217" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">There are people going through the same thing</h2>
<p id="ce6e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">We are fortunate to live in a city filled with entrepreneurs. They have the same problems as us, and may have even have found the solutions to many.</p>
<p id="2489" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It is really satisfying to share experiences with other startups, so all of us can learn from one another and become better professionals together. We’ve met a wide range of startups from different industries including: design, architecture, software, and even advertising. I feel proud to share our amazing entrepreneurial ride with them, and I am sure that Monterrey and Mexico will be better because of their hard work.</p>
<p id="3c5c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last">There are many software startups in Monterrey, but instead of looking at them as rivals, we look to them as a group of people who we can ask for help, or provide it ourselves. That’s what we believe is key to success. Getting along with local startups and growing together.</p>
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<p id="b80b" class="graf graf--p graf--leading">We have made mistakes, and have seen what we believed to be correct crumble before our eyes. We are confident that we&#8217;ll continue to make mistakes, as we try new things and embrace risk. This is how we will learn and mature as a company.</p>
<p id="64c8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Are you an entrepreneur? How has your way of thinking changed?</em></p>
<p class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--last"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2806" src="http://www.prototypr.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/disblu.png" alt="disblu" width="600" height="555" srcset="https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153523/disblu.png 600w, https://prototypr-media.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/13153523/disblu-300x278.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>
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What I’ve learned after having a software company for one year in Mexico

The tough decision

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