The Codex
Freelancing guides for each stage of your business
Find practical guides to getting clients, setting rates, agreeing scope, getting paid, and managing delivery. Filter by your stage or topic, then use the linked templates to put a decision into practice.
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Filter by stage or pillar, then open the page that matches your current bottleneck.
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Freelancing is game theory: incentives, trust, leverage, and repeat business
Many freelance problems are not isolated. They are incentive, information, leverage, or coordination problems that show up in different places. Use this hub if you want the whole model and the sequence behind it.
Open Freelancing is game theory: incentives, trust, leverage, and repeat businessFreelancing is game theory: incentives, trust, leverage, and repeat business
A large share of freelance work is strategic interaction under uncertainty. See the incentives, reduce the hidden information, and make the good outcome easier than the bad one.
Open Freelancing is game theory: incentives, trust, leverage, and repeat businessProject selection and optionality: choose work that improves your position
Not every paid project is good business. Some work pays now and weakens your future choices. Some pays now and improves them.
Open Project selection and optionality: choose work that improves your positionSolo operating system: reduce admin
The goal is not the perfect tool stack. The goal is fewer decisions: standard templates, one source of truth, and a weekly rhythm.
Open Solo operating system: reduce adminSubcontractor incentives and quality control: scale without losing margin
Once you add help, the work changes. You are no longer only delivering. You are designing briefs, information flow, incentives, and QA.
Open Subcontractor incentives and quality control: scale without losing margin