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[return to "How I estimate work"]
1. jawns+Ft[view] [source] 2026-01-24 15:10:49
>>mattjh+(OP)
Here's my (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) rubric:

- If it's an internal project (like migrating from one vendor to another, with no user impact) then it takes as long as I can convince my boss it is reasonable to take.

- If it's a project with user impact (like adding a new feature) then it takes as long as the estimated ROI remains positive.

- If it's a project that requires coordination with external parties (like a client or a partner), then the sales team gets to pick the delivery date, and the engineering team gets to lie about what constitutes an MVP to fit that date.

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2. tfranc+NZ2[view] [source] 2026-01-25 13:27:29
>>jawns+Ft
My issue with the second one is that, as an engineer, I am almost never the one trusted with managing ROI. In r&d this just means your product people expect delivery earlier and earlier, and will accept lower and lower quality if they think it has some return for the product.
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