Essay

What Consulting Companies Can Learn From Product Companies

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) · Kalzumeus Free Intermediate

Patrick McKenzie is one of the clearest writers on the line between bespoke work and a repeatable product, and this essay maps exactly how to turn one-off custom asks into something that scales instead of trapping you. For a founder whose biggest customer keeps requesting features, the move is to productize the pattern behind the ask rather than deliver it as pure service work. Read it as a starting point for deciding which requests become roadmap and which stay paid, scoped, one-off work.

• The core skill is converting one-off engagements into recurring, productized value rather than endless custom delivery.
• A custom ask can often be reframed as a repeatable offering (a package, a tool, a standard workflow) that other customers will pay for too.
• Recurring, productized revenue gives you the pricing power and cash flow that pure bespoke work never will.