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$1 Bid Wins Government Open Source Software Purchasing Experiment (gsa.gov)
An anonymous reader writes: A couple weeks ago we discussed a project from a software team within the U.S. General Services Administration. Its goal was to set up a portal to let developers bid on the creation of open source code needed by the government. From the beginning, they said it was an experiment, and now the results are in from their first project. The project was quickly bid all the way down to $1, and on Wednesday, the winner delivered a functional solution that met their criteria. They say, "When we received the $1 bid, we immediately tried to figure out whether it was intentional, whether it was from a properly registered company, and whether we could award $1. We contacted the bidder and we confirmed that the bid was valid, that the registration on SAM.gov was current, and that the bid would be the winning bid. It was a plot twist that no one here at 18F expected. This unexpected development will no doubt force us to rethink some of our assumptions about the reverse-auction model." Despite their surprise, the team feels this is proof that the system can succeed. They're now working to refine the process.
I initially read it as $1B
Yes, building a reputation of working for a $1.
Now, the free publicity may be worth it but it could just have as easily gone the other way. In fact, it will when this becomes old news and the next idiot tries it.
BTW, for all budding entrepreneurs, believe me when I say anyone trying to make you work at subsistence or free, on the basis that it will net you reputation or some such, is just trying to scam free labor off you that will never pay off.
BTW, for all budding entrepreneurs, believe me when I say anyone trying to make you work at subsistence or free, on the basis that it will net you reputation or some such, is just trying to scam free labor off you that will never pay off.
There is a difference between someone trying to make you work for free and making a calculated risk to do it yourself. I'm now CTO of a multimillion dollar company. The first 5 years, every cofounder of the company had a day job and helped build the company for free on night and weekends as well as we gave our service away for 5 years as well. It paid off for us. Likewise, many artists, painters, caterers, wedding planners, photographers, barbers, massage therapists, and even lawyers built their portfolio first by doing work if not for free or pro bono then at least below what they would later like to charge.
One dollar for the program. Okay. That's bragging rights.
How much is the support contract?
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
It reminds me of trying to bid for jobs on sites like Elance. I'll read a brand new RFP and spend 5 minutes putting together a ballpark estimate. By the time I reply to the posting, it already has 20+ bids from "Doing the Needful Associates" and "Hyderabad Professional Services" bidding down to $5 on something I would have quoted $200 for (and been cheating myself even at that rate). It's futile to even attempt bidding.