[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-choosing-clients-not-deals-en":3,"blog-adjacent-choosing-clients-not-deals-en":30,"blog-related-choosing-clients-not-deals-en":65},{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"excerpt":7,"content":8,"cover":9,"tone":10,"author":11,"publishedAt":12,"updatedAt":12,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":15,"category":19,"seoSettings":29},12,"choosing-clients-not-deals","Choosing Clients Matters More Than Choosing Projects","The same contract can grow a team or drain it. We now screen clients with three questions.","\u003Cp>For our first few years we rarely turned down work: if the budget covered our costs, we took the project. Only by year five did we understand that what decides a project is rarely the difficulty of the requirements, but the people across the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>Three questions we ask\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Can they describe the problem they have, rather than hand over a feature list? People who can articulate the problem usually want to solve it with you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is the decision chain clear? If the person signing the contract is not the person using the system, the requirements will drift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do they respect professional judgement? Clients who ignore every recommendation tend to dislike the outcome as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>What we have walked away from\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Last year we declined a well-funded project: a full management system in two months, with no phased launch. We read it as a problem of understanding, not of schedule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We spent that time upgrading an existing client's system instead. A year later the other company came back and asked us to build the first phase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More clients is not the goal. The relationships that last usually start with harder conversations and get easier over time.\u003C\u002Fp>","","indigo","佳益方圆团队","2026-09-13T11:26:00+08:00",1,false,[16,17,18],"Startup","Clients","Judgement",{"id":20,"parentId":21,"slug":22,"name":23,"description":24,"icon":25,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":28,"count":21},6,0,"founder-notes","Founder Notes","Reflections from the founding team on business, management and product, documenting the growth of a software company.","pen-tool","blue","article",10,{},{"previous":31,"next":48},{"id":32,"slug":33,"title":34,"excerpt":35,"content":9,"cover":9,"tone":36,"author":11,"publishedAt":37,"updatedAt":37,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":38,"category":42},110,"export-independent-site-or-marketplace","Exporters: Independent Site or Marketplace?","Independent sites and marketplaces are not either-or, though many firms treat them that way.","cyan","2026-09-15T11:26:00+08:00",[39,40,41],"Industry Watch","Export","Independent Site",{"id":43,"parentId":21,"slug":44,"name":39,"description":45,"icon":46,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":47,"count":21},5,"industry-watch","In-depth analysis of internet, software and digital industry trends with our own point of view.","globe",20,{"id":49,"slug":50,"title":51,"excerpt":52,"content":9,"cover":9,"tone":53,"author":11,"publishedAt":54,"updatedAt":54,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":55,"category":59},33,"slow-query-first-steps","Taming Slow Queries: Read the Plan Before Optimising","Adding an index is not a universal cure. Without an execution plan, tuning is guesswork.","teal","2026-09-11T12:39:00+08:00",[56,57,58],"Database","Performance","SQL",{"id":13,"parentId":21,"slug":60,"name":61,"description":62,"icon":63,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":64,"count":21},"engineering","Engineering","Hands-on engineering practices in architecture, performance optimization, AI integration and cross-platform delivery from our R and D team.","cpu",60,[66,75,85],{"id":28,"slug":67,"title":68,"excerpt":69,"content":9,"cover":9,"tone":26,"author":11,"publishedAt":70,"updatedAt":70,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":71,"category":74},"quote-by-scope-not-hours","Why We Quote by Scope, Not by Man-Days","Man-day pricing looks fair, but it pushes every uncertainty onto the client. We would rather agree on scope and assumptions first, then talk about money.","2026-10-07T09:00:00+08:00",[16,72,73],"Pricing","Partnership",{"id":20,"parentId":21,"slug":22,"name":23,"description":24,"icon":25,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":28,"count":21},{"id":76,"slug":77,"title":78,"excerpt":79,"content":9,"cover":9,"tone":36,"author":11,"publishedAt":80,"updatedAt":80,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":81,"category":84},11,"three-lessons-from-first-client","Three Lessons From Our First Client","Our first project in 2019 was worth thirty thousand yuan and taught us more about contracts, acceptance and honesty than any course.","2026-09-25T10:13:00+08:00",[16,82,83],"Client","Contract",{"id":20,"parentId":21,"slug":22,"name":23,"description":24,"icon":25,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":28,"count":21},{"id":86,"slug":87,"title":88,"excerpt":89,"content":9,"cover":9,"tone":53,"author":11,"publishedAt":90,"updatedAt":90,"readingMinutes":13,"featured":14,"tags":91,"category":94},13,"cash-flow-before-margin","Cash Flow Beats Margin","Margin is a number in the ledger; cash flow decides whether the company survives to the next payment.","2026-09-01T12:39:00+08:00",[16,92,93],"Cash Flow","Operations",{"id":20,"parentId":21,"slug":22,"name":23,"description":24,"icon":25,"cover":9,"tone":26,"kind":27,"sortOrder":28,"count":21}]