Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Does BCS work for equity?
Question: Why does BCS insist on using its contracting agreement?
Question: Does BCS work for equity?
Answer: BCS tries to treat every client (big or small) equally. If we were to take equity in a particular client, that might add bias toward putting that client before the others so we choose not to take equity.
Question: Why does BCS insist on using its standard contracting agreement?
Answer: There are numerous reasons why most standard contracts are incompatible with BCS. Our contract is many years in the making and tries to address all of the issues we’ve run into over that time. If there is something in our contract that isn’t compatible with your business, we are happy to discuss it.
For reference, here are a few of the most common challenges with standard contracts:
Liability: BCS’s business model is a bit unique in that its fiscal compensation isn’t balanced with its potential liability exposure. Example: BCS designs a small part of a product for a client. BCS gets paid for the hours worked and the project is over. Later the client goes into production and sells millions of units. If there happens to be a legal dispute with the product, BCS could easily be included in litigation right alongside the client. While the client has profited from selling those millions of units, BCS has only been compensated for the initial development. This imbalance of exposure requires BCS to get both a hold harmless and a one-way indemnification agreement from every client.
Insurance: For many companies, insurance would be the answer, but product-liability insurance doesn’t make sense because BCS isn’t actually selling products and professional liability insurance doesn’t cover the unknown/unpredictable exposure that our typical projects tend to have.
IP: Intellectual property clauses are often worded in a way that is incompatible with BCS’s business. Standard contracts often stipulate that any/all IP created during the term of the contract is owned by the client. However, BCS is often working concurrently on multiple projects in similar domains. This is actually beneficial to clients since this domain experience is often why a client has chosen to work with BCS in the first place. That being said, BCS works very hard to protect and isolate each client’s IP and never shares or misuses a client’s IP.