# 199: Petri Dishes of Doom

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2017-05-10
- Length: 1h 03m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/199-petri-dishes-of-doom

## Summary

Hosts Elecia White and Christopher White answer listener questions about the business side of embedded consulting, distinguishing between contracting and consulting. They discuss billing strategies, advising hourly rates over fixed bids to avoid scope creep, and using a salary-to-rate conversion spreadsheet to determine pricing. The conversation covers contract pitfalls, such as perpetual bug-fix clauses and IP ownership, and practical advice on invoicing, tool licensing, and data security via backups and virtual machines.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=6) Introduction: Contracting vs. Consulting Definitions
- [5:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=353) Billing Strategies: Hourly vs. Fixed Bid Estimates
- [9:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=543) Calculating Hourly Rates and Discounts
- [16:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=1008) Learning New Technologies and Tool Licensing
- [24:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=1465) Post-Project Support and Bug Fixes
- [29:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=1779) Code Licensing, IP Ownership, and Reuse
- [37:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=2263) Invoicing Mechanics and Frequency
- [48:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=2930) Contract Review and Red Flags
- [55:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom#t=3341) Data Security, Backups, and Virtual Machines

## Topics

- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Logical Elegance (company)
- IAR (tool)
- MatLab (tool)
- QuickBooks (tool)
- CrashPlan (tool)
- Backblaze (tool)
- AWS (other)

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- [Electronics Consultant Impedance Matching](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-01-electronics-consultant-impedance-matching) (The Amp Hour)
- [More Electronics Consultant Impedance Matching](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-05-11-more-electronics-consultant-impedance-matching) (The Amp Hour)
- [Idiorhythmic IPC Inconcinnity](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-11-22-idiorhythmic-ipc-inconcinnity) (The Amp Hour)
- [Design & Manufacturing Consulting with Scott Williams from Xentronics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2023-03-19-design-manufacturing-consulting-with-scott-williams-from-xentronics) (The Amp Hour)
- [Adafruit, Chip heist, Hackerspaces - The Kit Conniption](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-04-26-adafruit-chip-heist-hackerspaces-the-kit-conniption) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2017-05-10-199-petri-dishes-of-doom. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.