Tough Cents Insights https://toughcents.com/insights Practical writing from the Tough Cents leadership team on firmware, databases, AI in government systems, and buying engineering work. en-us Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT What You Actually Get When You Hire a Small Engineering Firmhttps://toughcents.com/insights/hiring-a-small-engineering-firmhttps://toughcents.com/insights/hiring-a-small-engineering-firmThe real tradeoffs of hiring a small engineering firm instead of a large one, including the situations where a small team is the wrong call.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAlice Milea-CiobanuWorking with us What I'd Check Before Putting an LLM Feature in a Government Systemhttps://toughcents.com/insights/llm-features-in-government-systemshttps://toughcents.com/insights/llm-features-in-government-systemsA practical pre-build checklist for LLM features in government applications, covering data rules, hosting, evaluation, security, and day-to-day operation.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTLandon MannAIGovernment Budgeting for Software After It Launcheshttps://toughcents.com/insights/software-costs-after-launchhttps://toughcents.com/insights/software-costs-after-launchWhat to budget for once a software system is live, from security updates and hosting to staff time, and how to plan for it before the build is approved.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTGabriel AshleyBudgeting Ask About the Handoff Before You Sign Anythinghttps://toughcents.com/insights/ask-about-the-handoffhttps://toughcents.com/insights/ask-about-the-handoffThe handoff decides whether you can actually own the software you paid for. What a good one includes, and how to write it into the scope from the start.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAlice Milea-CiobanuWorking with us Seven Things to Settle Before You Sign a Teaming Agreementhttps://toughcents.com/insights/teaming-agreements-for-small-businesseshttps://toughcents.com/insights/teaming-agreements-for-small-businessesWhat a small business should agree on with a prime contractor before signing a teaming agreement, from workshare and exclusivity to payment terms.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTGabriel AshleyGovernmentContracts Fixed Price vs. Time and Materials for Software Projectshttps://toughcents.com/insights/fixed-price-or-time-and-materialshttps://toughcents.com/insights/fixed-price-or-time-and-materialsHow fixed-price and time-and-materials agreements divide risk on software projects, what each one asks of the buyer, and how to choose between them.Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTGabriel AshleyContracts Before You Blame the Database, Measure Ithttps://toughcents.com/insights/is-the-database-your-bottleneckhttps://toughcents.com/insights/is-the-database-your-bottleneckHow to confirm a database is really what's slowing your application down, what to measure first, and the fixes worth trying before anyone proposes a migration.Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTLandon MannDatabasesPerformance Five Questions to Answer Before You Ask for a Quotehttps://toughcents.com/insights/before-you-ask-for-a-quotehttps://toughcents.com/insights/before-you-ask-for-a-quoteHow to scope a software project so the quotes that come back are actually comparable, in five questions you can answer before contacting anyone.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAlice Milea-CiobanuScoping Rust or C for Firmware? Here's How I'd Decidehttps://toughcents.com/insights/rust-or-c-for-firmwarehttps://toughcents.com/insights/rust-or-c-for-firmwareWhen Rust earns its place in embedded firmware, when C is still the better choice, and the questions that settle it for a specific chip, team, and schedule.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTLandon MannEmbeddedRust