Also, you are right about getting a week's work or less for £5k but this guy is offering to work on 5 separate assignments concurrently as well as holding down a full-time job/contract at the same time. Actually none of this is any of my business and I kind of regret passing comment now. However it reminds me of a few consultants who worked for me in a start up I was involved in a while back so I might put it down to unresolved issues. You might be able to get rid of these people quite quickly when it is clear they are not delivering but it is shocking how much money can be wasted in even a relatively short space of time. My main point was that he doesn't come across that well from the post (no big deal – just a personal thing and that's obviously his shtick anyway) and I am more than a bit sceptical that he is capable of any form of delivery given the demands on his time.

For someone at this level £5k would get you less than a week of time.

Also, you are right about getting a week's work or less for £5k but this guy is offering to work on 5 separate assignments concurrently as well as holding down a full-time job/contract at the same time. Actually none of this is any of my business and I kind of regret passing comment now. However it reminds me of a few consultants who worked for me in a start up I was involved in a while back so I might put it down to unresolved issues. You might be able to get rid of these people quite quickly when it is clear they are not delivering but it is shocking how much money can be wasted in even a relatively short space of time. My main point was that he doesn't come across that well from the post (no big deal – just a personal thing and that's obviously his shtick anyway) and I am more than a bit sceptical that he is capable of any form of delivery given the demands on his time.

Also, you are right about getting a week's work or less for

For someone at this level

Mr Operator is a wholly independent consultant. Like a lawyer or any other
professional. Yes he works at a mobile operator too and in an influential
position. He can definitely introduce you to the network he works with, but
there's next to no guarantee that'll get anywhere. He's extremely careful
about his respective responsibilities — as he should be.

Ben: Any consultant worth their salt in this type of scenario would charge a success fee or commission, at least in part. Particularly when he claims to be the difference between success and failure. Also, how many months is this likely to drag on for given that the guy has a full-time job and five simultaneous consulting assignments in any one month. Seriously, how much use is this person likely to be. If they can't agree to a cut of some form or another, I doubt they are anywhere near as good as they claim to be. In this sense, the post comes across a bit like a slightly desperate pitch of its own. Like I said, I don't work in the industry but I am basing this on my own experience.

Finally, the

I read this as similar to Dragon's Den… if you make it in front of the man who can make the decision about your app don't come with business cards but not a business plan. Never mind teasing start-ups… it's dumb to chase such a major opportunity only to fritter it away. If you do it's that kind of telling-off should be the push you need to get it right/better next time.

Having said that it would be nice for Mr Operator to offer some positive advice around those challenging areas in future…

There's absolutely no ridicule involved. I know the chap well and Mr
Operator doesn't take any pleasure whatsoever from turning down startups
who've clearly invested a lot of time, money and hope getting into the
office to pitch in the first place. If anything, the complete lack of
understanding for internal operator motivations and dynamics is extremely
frustrating for Mr Operator. He has to (for example) sit down witht he
startup and explain that the business plan a startup's been working on for
the last years is utter nonsense because no operator on the planet would
accept it. A hugely disheartening experience for all concerned, I suspect.

I'm hoping to change this with regular feedback from Mr Operator.

To answer the payment point: A bribe? Absolutely not! Let's be clear:
Mr Operator is an independent consultant. He works more or less full time
for one particular international mobile network.

If you're a startup, you can also hire Mr Operator to help you understand
precisely what your average operator will want and expect from a deal. I'd
liken it to hiring a financial listing specialist to help you prepare your
company to list on the Stock Exchange.

If your business plan depends on you getting your application or service
into a series of mobile operators across the planet, it's worth a chat with
Mr Operator — or another similar consultant. Meantime I'm confident the
continuing columns from Mr Operator will add a lot of value to a lot of SMS
Text News readers, many who would welcome an insight into the mind(s) of
your average mobile operator.

Furthermore, if Mr O was capable of adding real value, ie being the difference between success and failure as described, he would take a cut like everyone else instead of a crappy few thousand quid. Believe me. Actually the way this post is written, the payment comes across like a bribe.

Kinda reminds me of the record industry.

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So you