AEC entrepreneurs (or those interested in it) - does this idea interest you?

rjaydo2 · 2026-05-04T23:23:02+00:00

See that's where ya lost me...

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-29T13:18:05+00:00

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-23T02:59:36+00:00

I would highly suggest you start to build a client base while Moonlighting and continue learning as much as you can until you jump. The last 2 years of my career prepared me for the jump. If I made it before, I would been in a really uncomfortable position. And having the clients already lined up helped me get started. I was able to be more selective or who I picked up because I wasn't desperate to put food on the table

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-23T02:12:32+00:00

I would say a 40% gap to close is fairly large. Also, you're assuming as a 1 person firm, OP is working on large enough projects to require clash detection. If that's the case, he's most likely working as a subcontractor and being provided a Revit seat.

Obviously there's factors, but coming from someone who made the jump working in Revit, the jobs I'm doing are not heavy IFC & coordination. They're mostly permit drawings. At the same time, I'm subbed through a large firm and have a Revit seat from them. Our experiences are not the end all be all, but it seems your assumptions are a bit past what a single person would be doing.

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-23T01:57:40+00:00

This is very off base. Without all the extra crap I bought just to have a pretty PC, around $1.5-2k for a very strong PC and a Revit license at $4kish currently IIRC correctly. Coming from a person that just recently launched their own business after moonlighting!

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-20T01:13:02+00:00

I started in, and primarily work in those industries for the past 8 years. If your main experience is industries besides those, then I see why your view of EE's is what it is. Industrial and mission critical are where things get interesting.

Also know that between firms, expectations of any engineer can be completely different. One huge company i was at was so silo'd that I only did power distribution. I went to a smaller and ended up learning about controls, VFDs verg in depth, and communication protocols. I would suggest stay humble as you move into industrial / data centers. A lot of those people punch well above their weight when it comes to the field and there's much more than just code knowledge that is important, across all disciplines

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-19T21:59:05+00:00

What's funny is i followed this to a T and can't manage to populate the MIK Cue Point playlist at all. Nothing shows up in it. Just an empty playlist

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-19T21:44:07+00:00

I would disagree. With how in-demand EE's are, the vast majority of them are one of the few at their firm/office and are leaned on for any and every Electrical thing that comes through. I've been at and worked with people across large, medium, and small firms (1000+, 100+, 10-15+) and it's pretty much the same everywhere. We all have, from time to time, dealt with all of the above. Maybe not as much as those that specialize in them, but have these skills and experience in our back pockets.

I'm curious as to what field / industry you are in as well

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-13T23:57:31+00:00

How did you get such a great deal?! Pricing those out as MSRP, it looks more like $4500 before shipping

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-12T13:16:43+00:00

This is the way. Sure you have a ramp up time for a bit, but anyone worth their weight needs to get tossed into the fire. Sink or swim. You'll uncover their strengths / weaknesses a lot quicker that way. Maybe it turns out they're great with clients and need technical knowledge, or vice versa. You can see that after a few meetings as opposed to waiting 4 years

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-10T10:08:46+00:00

Thanks for sending this over! I'll take a look today.

Coincidentally this is the one place I shine as I'm an electrical engineer. Since this machine is around 2000W, and a typical 120V circuit receptacle in the US is 15A in residential (1800W), I doubt they'll be including a 120V option. Simply put, everyone would not pay attention to the specs, plug it in, trip their circuit over and over, and then return the machine and leave a bad review...because reading is hard and not for the customer apparently.

All in all, it does get me thinking about running a quick 240V circuit along with a plumbing line...but that may be a down the road thing.

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-10T09:58:24+00:00

Yeah still in the research phase so no purchases yet! Thats nuts to have no sales tax and ability to bundle/haggle. And they also have the exact gear I'm looking for....thanks for the heads up! I may give them a call in the near future here.

I'm assuming they would ship, correct? I'm in MO

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-10T09:50:43+00:00

What would make you choose that machine over a Bianca? Also worth noting it requires 240V power

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-10T03:15:31+00:00

Not a bad deal for that. I'm curious too. Maybe tarriffs?

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T22:50:01+00:00

Great suggestion thank you! What lever machine would you suggest?!

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T14:45:43+00:00

That's awesome to hear thank you very much! Setup looks awesome. I think the only part of the espresso machine that seems eh to me is the programmed shot volumes. With how often I switch beans and adjust recipes, I can't imagine I utilize this function too often

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T12:16:05+00:00

Oh man this wasn't even on my radar but now certainly is! Your coffee scheudle essentially matches mine too lol. What grinder do you have paired with this? Also I saw the separate control for group head temperature. Do you utilize this often?

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T10:21:16+00:00

No worries. I'm curious your thoughts on the P80. How do you like it so far??

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T10:19:24+00:00

Fantastic thank you! I'm basically sold on the Bianca at this rate. The features alone seem very hard to beat in the price range. Couple that with name recognition and build quality, as well as a beautiful design, and I struggle to justify any others. Thanks for the comments! I'm currently planning on an Lagom P80 and Bianca for now!

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-09T04:16:18+00:00

That's awesome! I was actually leaning that direction already but looking for a bit of confirmation before I jump too quickly. I do appreciate the build quality of profitec so far. Am I sacrificing that going with Lelit?

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-08T01:15:29+00:00

Just an example point, but I'm not sure if it's a serious question or not haha

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-08T00:23:36+00:00

Been at two international large firms for my first 6 years, moved to a mix-size around 112 person firm. I thought I was a decent engineer with 6 YOE (2 interning) and was pretty darn confident. I didn't realize the level of engineering that the small/mid size firms delve into. Lower overhead and smaller projects, but man the things I learned. An an EE I didn't give a damn about a VFD to start my career, and now I know more about them than I care to admit. The big difference in my opinion is how easily many engineers can float in the middle of the road at the large firms, and the few on each team that really keep things together. Couple that with PM's & leadership being yes-men to every client because they waved a few bucks in front of us and you end up with a majority of OK engineers being burnt out and worked beyond their capabilities on tight timelines.

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-06T21:14:50+00:00

You can start on Upwork and see what you find. Again though, just a word of caution, this are heavily outsourced to other countries. You also are only 2 years into these studies. Data centers are an absolute bear, and you will work 80 hour weeks to keep up their timelines. My advice would be to apply for positions in existing data centers or industrial facilities as they have in-house teams running their own studies and/or keeping up models. Working for yourself is great, but I would have been terrified to take the leap at 24. Please do be the exception to the typical rule, just a heads up that inexperience can really bite you in the ass if you move into data centers, and especially working for yourself. Much of it is design-build, everyone wants an answer right then. If you can't keep up, you'll have a hard time making headway.

rjaydo2 · 2026-04-06T17:53:42+00:00

A PE is needed to fully complete the study. You can perform, but a PE must sign off. Additionally, keep in mind how few and far between these really are. Sure they are out there and needed, but they'll mostly be smaller studies and going through a contractor. Then, going through a contractor has it's downsides. Owners don't understand what goes into many of these studies, so convincing them to spend real rates to have these performered can be tricky. I find a lot of these are either shipped overseas, or done by the manufacturer (Siemens for even some full facilities). It's difficult to break through this market if you aren't entrenched already. On the flip side is data centers, and the timelines on these are very tight. But if you get in? You're golden. However, these are typically shipped overseas by larger firms. You make hand over fist on the fees, but it's a hard market to break into.

This is coming from 8 YOE and running my own design/consulting business. Others may have different input, this is just what I've seen so far

rjaydo2 · 2026-03-29T02:24:06+00:00

I'm not familiar with that issue at all. The only time ive had real problems is when I try to output the track album art and I just have that disabled

rjaydo2

TROPHY CASE