Ditching Hourly

Jonathan Stark

For solo professionals who want to make more and work less without hiring.

  1. 29 Jul

    Wes Wheless - The Expert's Privilege

    ”Expertise whisperer” Wes Wheless joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about turning corporate expertise into a solo consulting business. We talked about his new book, The Expert's Privilege, how corporate professionals can recognize transferable expertise, why visual IP helps consultants explain their work, and what to do before making the leap from employee to independent consultant. Chapters 01:35 - From Corporate to Consulting03:48 - Pivoting Toward Solo Consultants06:16 - Daily Email, Authority, and Visual IP11:46 - The Expert's Privilege18:36 - Why Corporate Experts Undervalue Their Skills23:23 - Excavating Your Expertise27:18 - Finding Your Zone of Genius32:44 - From Self-Examination to Market Validation35:30 - What to Do Before You Leave Corporate40:22 - A Book Is FOR Someone44:23 - Writing the Book With Support52:06 - Launch Strategy and Early ResultsAbout Wes Wes Wheless is an "expertise whisperer," founder of Develop My IP, and creator of The Lightbulb, a daily email for corporates-turned-consultants. After two consecutive tech layoffs, Wes traded a 20-year corporate career spanning consulting, enterprise, and startups for a solo practice helping experts turn their knowledge into IP, frameworks, and "intellectual headshots." Wes holds business degrees from The Wharton School and Kellogg School of Management and lives in Seattle, Washington. The Expert's Privilege is his first book. Links Resources & Services: weswheless.comThe Expert's Privilege: wesbook.comBuy on Amazon: buywesbook.comThe Lightbulb email: lightbulbemail.comFen Druadin, Book Midwife: fendruadin.com ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  2. 24 Jul

    Brian Herriot - Time Freedom

    Author, financial advisor, and former management consultant Brian Herriot joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about pursuing time freedom before financial freedom. Brian and I talk about his new book Time Freedom, the difference between time freedom and financial freedom, how flexible work can bridge the gap, and what he learned from using early readers, workshops, and hybrid publishing to turn his ideas into a book. Chapters (00:00) - Brian's Time Freedom Story (02:58) - Why Brian Wrote the Book (05:30) - Choosing Hybrid Publishing (09:53) - Building the Business Behind the Book (12:16) - Time Freedom vs Financial Freedom (16:46) - Making Nine Months Cover Twelve (19:47) - Remote Work and Flexible Work (23:18) - Who Can Actually Do This? (27:17) - Early Readers and Draft Feedback (31:51) - Tools for Testing a Book (33:32) - Testing Ideas Before Writing (36:00) - Writing the First Draft (40:26) - The Time Freedom Framework (46:52) - Writing a Better Ending (50:44) - Counterintuitive Money Advice Resources We Mentioned Time Freedom preorder pageTime Freedom CalculatorTime Freedom PodcastBrian Herriot on LinkedInWrite a Must-Read by AJ HarperAJ HarperPage Two SimplifiedMike MichalowiczMike Michalowicz on The Business of AuthorityWrite Useful Books / Rob FitzpatrickHelp This BookHeroic Public SpeakingCharlie Hoehn on The Knowledge Project with Shane ParrishGuest Bio Brian Herriot is the founder of Time Freedom and the author of Time Freedom: Rethink Your Work and Money to Create a Life You Love Now. He is an author, speaker, registered investment advisor, financial advisor, business consultant, and co-host of The Time Freedom Podcast. His professional background includes management consulting roles at Accenture and Point B, as well as a director position at UCSF Health. Learn more at https://timefreedom.life/. ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  3. 9 Jul

    Jed Byrne - Self-Publishing Your First Book

    Business development director and Raleigh commercial real estate enthusiast Jed Byrne joined me on Ditching Hourly to walk through the entire process of self-publishing his first book, Start Small Selling, from idea validation to Kickstarter funding to final production. We cover testing your book idea with real money, writing a first draft in 35 days, running a Kickstarter campaign to fund professional editing, finding and working with developmental editors, designing a book cover on a budget, and publishing through KDP and Lulu. Chapters (00:00) - Who Is Jed Byrne? (03:19) - The Hyper-Local Newsletter (07:59) - Why Write a Book? (11:41) - Testing the Idea (14:05) - The Writing Process (21:56) - The Kickstarter (31:04) - Building the Editing Team (36:23) - The Timeline (45:49) - Working with a Developmental Editor (52:40) - Designing the Cover (57:26) - Publishing with KDP and Lulu (01:00:00) - Start Small, Start Now Guest Bio Jed Byrne is a business development director at Barnhill Building Group, a North Carolina-based general contracting firm. Outside his day job, he runs Oak City CRE, a platform focused on Raleigh commercial real estate that includes a weekly Substack newsletter, a podcast, consulting, and his first book, Start Small Selling. You can reach Jed at books@oakcitycre.com. Resources Mentioned In This Episode People Jed ByrneJed Byrne on LinkedInJonathan StarkTim FerrissSeth GodinNoah KaganRob FitzpatrickTucker MaxPat FlynnChandler BoltTim GrahlRochelle MoultonCorey QuinnMike MichalowiczDerek SiversDaniel PinkJed / Raleigh / AEC Oak City CREThe Top Five by Oak City CREDirt NC podcastBarnhill Building GroupStart Small Selling KickstarterStart Small Selling on AmazonUrban Land InstituteULI TriangleJed’s book email from the episode - books@oakcitycre.comBooks / Book-Building Resources Million Dollar Weekend by Noah KaganThe Mom Test by Rob FitzpatrickWrite Useful Books by Rob FitzpatrickHelp This BookThe Workshop Survival GuideThe Scribe MethodSelfPublishing.com / Self-Publishing SchoolReedsyEditorial Freelancers AssociationChicago Manual of StyleISBNs / BowkerAtticusPublishing / Production / Selling Platforms KickstarterAmazon KDPLuluBlurbShopifyUpworkFiverrOtterpineMicrosoft WordCanvaInkscapeUSPS Media MailPodcast / Episode References Mike Michalowicz on The Business of Authority ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  4. 4 Jul

    David Guttman - Delegating Outcomes to AI with OpenClaw

    Principal at Superstruct and author David Guttman joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about using OpenClaw and AI agents to delegate outcomes instead of micromanaging code. We talked about AI employees, chat-based agents, why OpenClaw feels different from coding tools, how David qualifies repeatable tasks for delegation, secure setup choices like Tailscale, and what collapsing software costs could mean for developers who still sell their time. (00:00) - Introduction to David Guttman (00:41) - From Superstruct Teams to AI Employees (05:19) - Testing Devin Against a Human Engineer (09:39) - What OpenClaw Adds to AI Agents (11:40) - Vibe Coding from Anywhere (15:52) - Pretending You Do Not Know How to Code (21:13) - Software Quality, Risk, and Real Requirements (23:56) - How OpenClaw Has Changed (31:52) - Qualifying Tasks for an AI Employee (37:07) - The Secure OpenClaw Setup Process (40:38) - Local Machines vs Cloud Servers (45:52) - Tailscale and Remote Access Security (48:08) - Teaching Clients to Train Their Agent (53:02) - Ask the Agent Before Asking the Expert (01:00:44) - Life-Changing Client Use Cases (01:03:34) - Disposable Software and the Future of Developers (01:09:44) - Productivity, Pricing, and Value (01:13:31) - Where to Find David David Guttman is the Principal at Superstruct, where he helps solopreneurs and founders set up AI employees. He is the author of The Superstruct Manifesto, as well as Fullstack Node.js and Fullstack React, and has held engineering leadership roles at Outlier.org and Interlincx after earlier work with Disney and AT&T Interactive. Learn more at davidguttman.com and david.app. ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  5. 19 Jun

    Nikki Cross - The Private Podcast Book Club

    Learning and development facilitator Nikki Cross joined me on Ditching Hourly to share how she turned business books into a private podcast book club that helps members apply what they read. Nikki explains the mechanics of her Inner Work Business Book Club, how she uses a private podcast to turn book ideas into implementation, and why structure matters when business books are trying to change behavior instead of merely transferring information. Learn more about Nikki Cross and her work at The Inner Work. ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  6. 6 Jun

    Shawn Yeager - AI and the Billable Hour

    Founder of Upshift, Shawn Yeager, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about how AI is killing the billable hour and what professional services firms can do about it.  Jonathan and Shawn dig into judgment versus execution, what firms should commercialize after AI, why cost-cutting is only the first move, and how agent workflows change what small and midsize firms can do. 00:00 - Introduction01:54 - AI and the billable hour03:56 - The judgment sandwich05:19 - Strategy, execution, and hidden value09:06 - Client conversations about AI pressure13:26 - Validating AI output15:29 - Judgment, marketing, and cost of being wrong17:07 - AI transformation and commercialization20:08 - The hard parts big firms still need humans for22:20 - Cost recovery versus new offerings25:35 - Agents as extra employees26:40 - Interns versus chiefs of staff28:44 - Scaffolding agent workflows30:12 - From chatbots to delegated workflows37:00 - AI adoption inside firms42:01 - Closing remarksShawn Yeager runs Upshift, a firm focused on helping professional services firms understand what they sell after AI. His career has focused on emerging technology and getting it to market, including work on Microsoft's first browser team, the SaaS/cloud wave, mobile, Bitcoin, and AI. His background is in computer science, and his work has included sales, marketing, partnerships, consulting, Accenture, early-stage startups, and his own ventures. Learn more at upshiftco.com. ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  7. 26 May

    Alain Chautard - Scaling Angular Certification

    Angular expert Alain Chautard rejoined me on Ditching Hourly to share how he scaled his certification business through partnerships and automation. Jonathan and Alain talk about turning niche expertise into a certification business, reducing support demands, using expert partners across time zones and languages, negotiating a licensing-style partnership, and what happens when a soloist plugs their business into a larger organization. 00:00 - Introduction and Welcome Back03:24 - Creating the Angular Certification Program07:00 - Automating Customer Support10:04 - Scaling with Global Partnerships12:08 - Handling Certification Interviews15:04 - Partnerships and Business Growth20:05 - Negotiating a Business Partnership24:38 - Email Marketing Journey36:51 - Exploring New Content Formats38:51 - Mastermind Groups for SoloistsAlain Chautard is a Google Developer Expert in Angular who does consulting, training, and conference/content work around the Angular framework. He created an Angular certification program after clients asked for proof of completion beyond a simple training certificate. His work now includes helping teams make architecture decisions, get up to speed with Angular, and scale the certification business through partnerships. Learn more at alainchautard.com. ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

  8. 28 Apr

    Genevieve Hayes - Podcasting for Expertise-Based Businesses

    Data science consultant and podcast host Genevieve Hayes joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about podcasting as a boost for an expertise-based business. Chapters 00:00 - Genevieve Hayes and Value-Driven Data Science02:27 - Committing to Start a Podcast05:35 - Simple Production Is Good Enough07:02 - First Guests and Inbound Momentum11:46 - The 100-Episode Surprises15:07 - Relationships Beat Direct Lead Gen18:12 - Pitching Guests and Building Luck Surface Area29:30 - Buyers, Peers, and Referral Paths34:58 - Almost Quitting, Seasons, and Persistence39:00 - Preparation, Editing, and Production Workflow42:18 - Editing as Learning and Content Fuel49:20 - What You Actually Need to Start58:20 - Guest Referrals, Swaps, and Live Formats68:40 - Podcasting vs. Writing for Trust78:30 - Landing Dream Guests and Wrap-UpGuest Bio Genevieve Hayes is an actuary and statistician-turned-data scientist who helps organizations improve decision-making by quantifying uncertainty, often when data is sparse. She became a soloist in early 2022 and provides data science consulting services. She also mentors data professionals who want to transform their technical skills into strategic expertise and move from tactical execution to strategic advisory roles. Genevieve hosts Value-Driven Data Science, a podcast for practicing data professionals making that technical-to-strategic shift. Learn more at Value-Driven Data Science.  ---- Are your prices secretly based on hours, effort, or market rates? If so, buyers will treat you like labor, devalue your assistance, and try to negotiate lower rates. On Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer. In this workshop, we'll move toward prices based on the buyer's desired outcome instead. It's the first session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you. Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait. Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgs Enroll in “Stop Pricing Like a Freelancer” now » Hope to see you live in Zoom on Wednesday.

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Ratings & Reviews

3.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

For solo professionals who want to make more and work less without hiring.

Information

  • Creator
    Jonathan Stark
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    398
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © @2026 Ditching Hourly
  • Show Website
    Ditching Hourly

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