CATEGORY
11 articles
Software Economics
The money side of software — budget ranges, ROI, pricing models, and team economics for buyers planning a project.
Software EconomicsJul 1, 20268 min read
Replatforming cost estimate: a 3‑year TCO framework
Replatforming cost estimate should be treated as a financing decision, not a spreadsheet exercise. A full replatform often shifts $0.6M–$2.4M of costs and risk over three years — knowing which buckets move is what separates a sensible migration from a failed rewrite.
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Software EconomicsJun 26, 20267 min read
Custom software TCO: model 3‑year costs, switching risk, and hidden line-items
Custom software TCO is how you decide whether to hire a team or pay a vendor for a capability. The fog around three-year total cost makes founders either overbuild or overpay; a repeatable model with concrete line-items and a switching-cost multiplier fixes that.
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Software EconomicsJun 23, 20268 min read
LLM cost allocation: chargeback model for feature-driven AI
LLM cost allocation should be productized: charge each feature for tokens, embeddings, vector ops, and infra rather than burying spend on a central platform. Doing so reduces wasted inference spend, aligns incentives, and makes expensive features accountable to PMs and finance.
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Software EconomicsJun 12, 20266 min read
AI feature pricing: how to charge for model-powered features
AI feature pricing is the single product decision that turns model cost into a revenue stream rather than a P&L leak. Charge by tokens and you compress margin; charge for value and you can capture 2x–4x more revenue from enterprise buyers while keeping per-user adoption predictable.
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Software EconomicsMay 10, 20266 min read
Outsourced engineering costs: compare T&M, fixed-bid, retainers
Outsourced engineering costs are rarely lower than hiring until you factor time-to-market and hiring risk. Vendors sell velocity and risk transfer; you pay for predictability. Compare offers using three-year TCO, ramp months, and explicit switching costs before you sign a retainer.
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Software EconomicsMay 5, 20266 min read
Custom AI feature cost: how to budget and decide
Custom AI feature cost is not a single line item. It's a multi-year commitment of people, cloud spend and product complexity, and mis-budgeting the recurring side can turn a small experiment into a maintenance burden far larger than the build itself.
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