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title: Three proposals for the same project: $80k, $240k and $600k
author: Giacomo Balli
published: 2026-07-26
url: https://BigBalli.com/blog/three-proposals-for-the-same-project-80k-240k-and-600k
tags: AI, Product, Leadership, Data, Security
---

# Three proposals for the same project: $80k, $240k and $600k

*By Giacomo Balli* | *Published: July 26, 2026*

Three proposals for the same project: $80k, $240k and $600k.

They are for the same project the way three quotes to "fix the roof" are for the same roof. One vendor read the brief. One vendor read the building. One vendor read you.

The $80k proposal prices what you wrote down. Every integration you did not mention, every exception in your order flow, every report finance will ask for in month two is a change order waiting to happen. The number is low because your risk stayed with you.

The $600k proposal prices what the vendor thinks will happen. Discovery phase, data migration, a rebuilt permissions model, a year of support. Some of that is real. Some of it is the sales team knowing you will negotiate, so the anchor went up first.

The $240k proposal is usually the one that made assumptions and did not tell you which ones.

None of the three numbers tells you what the project costs. Each one tells you how much of the unknown that vendor is willing to carry, and at what markup.

So the question for each of them is the same, and it is not "why so much." It is "what did you assume about us to get to this number, and what happens to the price when the assumption is wrong."

The vendor who answers that in writing is the one whose number you can believe.

[Discuss on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7502409547853058048)

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**Tags:** AI, Product, Leadership, Data, Security

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