Alright, so folks wanna know about “Big Daddy KJ”. Man, that name still gives me a chuckle, and a bit of a shiver, not gonna lie. It wasn’t a system, or some fancy new tech. Nope. “Big Daddy KJ” was this one client, or rather, the lead guy on a massive project we landed a few years back. KJ were his initials, and “Big Daddy”… well, he sure acted like he owned the world, and us along with it.
The Grand Kick-off
So, we kick off the project. Excitement’s in the air, right? New client, big promises. Then KJ walks in. First meeting, he dumps this colossal binder on the table. “My vision,” he booms. Vision? It was more like a fever dream scrawled on a thousand napkins. Vague, contradictory, and totally unrealistic. Our first job, before even touching a line of code, was to decipher this mess.
I personally took on the task of trying to get clear, actionable requirements. I set up meetings. KJ would either be late, or he’d spend the whole time on his phone, or he’d just wave his hand and say, “You guys are the experts, figure it out!” Yeah, thanks. Super helpful.
Deep in the Trenches
So, we started digging. We had to. My team and I, we practically lived in the office for the first month. We tried to break down his “vision” into something workable. Our process went something like this:
- We’d build a small piece, a tiny feature, based on our best guess of what he wanted.
- We’d schedule a demo. This was always fun, like walking into a lion’s den.
- KJ would look at it, grunt, and then usually say something like, “No, no, no! This isn’t it at all! I told you I wanted X!” (He never told us X, by the way).
- Back to the drawing board. Rinse and repeat.
It was soul-crushing, I tell ya. We were burning through budget and morale like crazy. I tried to shield my team as much as I could, taking the brunt of KJ’s… feedback. Lots of coffee was consumed. Many late-night pizzas were ordered.
I remember one time, we worked straight for 48 hours to get a prototype ready for a “crucial milestone.” KJ took one look, didn’t even click anything, and just said, “The colors are wrong. I hate these colors.” The actual functionality? Didn’t even matter to him at that moment. Colors! After all that work.
The “Big” Finish
So, how did it end? Well, it didn’t exactly explode in a ball of fire, but it wasn’t a glorious victory either. We managed to deliver something. A watered-down, compromised version of his original “vision,” which, frankly, was still a miracle. KJ, in a rare moment of… well, not praise, but acceptance, signed off on it. Probably because he was already bored and looking for his next project to “inspire.”
We got paid, which was good. But the cost was high. A couple of my best people left shortly after, totally burned out. I can’t blame them. For me, “Big Daddy KJ” was a masterclass in what not to do, both as a client and how not to let a client run your life and your team into the ground.
You learn a lot from those kinds of experiences, though. You learn about setting boundaries (or trying to). You learn about managing expectations, even when the other side has none. And you learn that sometimes, just surviving the project is a win in itself. So yeah, that was my dance with “Big Daddy KJ.” Wouldn’t recommend the dance partner, but I sure learned some new steps.