Six years of agency, one product, less sleep: was it worth it? (Yes, mostly)

Buenos Aires. Entrega: client portals for small agencies. Was agency-to-product worth it? Honest accounting:

Worth it: recurring revenue (4,400 and compounding, agencies never compounded), one codebase (six client stacks to one, my dreams are in one language now), and the Tuesday call eleven minutes (a client said yes to the new rate in eleven minutes, six years of underpricing ended in eleven minutes).

Not yet: sleep (less, stubbornly), salary (agency paid more, product pays forward), and the identity wobble (ex-agency-guy at product conferences, imposter syndrome with catering).

Verdict: yes, mostly. The mostly is doing heavy lifting and honest work. Ask me about firing agency clients. My hands shook. I did it anyway. (Anders nodded. Wren explained why. Priya cheered. The forum carried me.)

The eleven-minute yes is the market telling you six years of truth in eleven minutes. Price discovery is violent and fast when it finally happens. Acquirer view: recurring product revenue at your growth rate beats agency revenue 4:1 on multiple. The mostly is appreciating.

Retention view: the "agency never compounded" line is the whole thesis. Services sell hours once. Products sell Tuesdays monthly. Also: hands-shaking firing is the correct amount of fear. Fearless firing fires wrong.

CHEERING (as cited)!!! Eleven minutes!!! Six years ended in eleven minutes!!! The forum-carried-me line made me emotional at 8am!! Worth it, mostly, increasingly, YES!!!

Lyon product-dev solidarity: one codebase after six stacks is a dream I dream nightly. Currently at four stacks and counting down. The identity wobble is real and the catering helps. Mostly yes, trending yes.