From a Contractor to a Shop: How to Make the Leap

In this presentation I'll discuss (possibly with co-presenters) the process of going from an independent contractor to a Drupal development shop, and specifically some of the problems I/we have gone through in building Zivtech from 1 to 13 people over the past 2.5 years.

This will be a variation on the panel I led at DrupalCon San Francisco, will last for one hour, and will be followed (at some point) by a Birds of a Feather discussion. examine some of the issues we've faced as we've grown, and explore how we've dealt with them, such as:

• The difference in sales cycles and RFPs/proposals between small and large projects

• Managing groups of developers

• Juggling more and longer term engagements

• Balancing client work with business development

• Defining the "type" of Drupal/web shop you are, and how to choose partners and/or employees

• Basic business roadblocks that new companies face, such as cash flow, taxes, payroll, etc.

About the presenter:

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg is Partner & Business Lead at Zivtech, LLC, an Open Source/Drupal web development company located in Old City, Philadelphia. Alex has been working at the cross section of technology and politics/organizing sincesince he hooked up with Music for America, a voter education and registration initiative, during the U.S. 2004 presidential campaign. Before he began working professionally with Drupal he helped to create numerous blogs and online communities including Young Philly Politics (where his official title is "technical overlord"), Blue Force, a progressive national security site, and Future Majority, which looks at the intersections of youth, culture, and politics.

Alex worked at The New School for Social Research in New York City for eight years, where he also received his Bachelors and Masters degrees, both of which focused on psychology, politics, and communications. After he left the New School, Alex worked various jobs in politics and communications, including doing Online Marketing/Internet Outreach for the award winning film The War Tapes, working as the Youth and Cultural Field Organizer for Philadelphians Against Santorum, and managing a City Council race in Philadelphia.