Real-Life Math -- Solution
Here are the solutions to the 2 problems:
Problem 1
It
cost $200 to develop this software. Your goal is to make 20 percent profit
on it.
$200 x 0.20 = $40
$200 + $40 = $240
In
order to make a 20 percent profit, the lowest price that you can sell this
software for is $240. That means that you can agree to the client's offer
of $250 for the package.
Problem 2
67
x $200 = $13,400
In the first 2 months, the sales rep has brought
in $13,400.
$13,400 / 2 months = $6,700 a month
At
this rate, you can expect her to make $6,700 in a typical month.
$6,700
x 3 months = $20,100
She just barely makes it! At
the end of next month, it's likely that you won't have to fire her.
Get ready to make plenty of these types of decisions as a software product
manager.
"In general, the people who tend to do well at math are the
people who tend to do well at technology," says software product manager Justin
Grant. "I'm not sure that there's a causal relationship there.
"That said, if you're the kind of student who struggles with calculus, you're
probably also going to struggle with understanding software development concepts,
so this is probably not the ideal career for you," Grant says. "It doesn't
mean that you need to know really advanced math to do this, you just need
to have the kind of aptitude that tends to make you good at math."