Field Notes

From inside the agency.

Essays from inside a 120-person digital agency on Jira — written by Ernest. Project margin, estimating, the architecture of profitability, and the small decisions that compound. No content marketing.

Pricing11 min read

Why Your Hourly Rate Is the Wrong Number to Optimise

Hourly rates are easy to compare, easy to negotiate, and structurally bad at telling you what to charge. Day rates, role rates, and value-based pricing each fix a different problem the hourly rate hides. The four cases for moving away from hourly billing, with the math and the conversation that follows.

29 April 2026Read

Pricing11 min read

Per-Seat vs Flat Fee: The Hidden Tax of Agency Tools That Bill by Headcount

Why per-seat pricing on operations tools quietly punishes the agencies that use them best. A worked comparison across 50, 100 and 200 seats, and the structural reason flat-fee tools win on every horizon longer than a quarter.

18 February 2026Read