Wanting it fast, good, and cheap is also a red flag for lots of other little bonuses, such as:
- You will constantly wait for them to make a decision.
- It will be your fault they took so long to make a decision.
- They will have emergencies of their own making.
- It will be your fault they have emergencies.
- They will commit to little or nothing on paper.
- It's not their fault because they never committed to that.
- You think you have specs; they think you're prototyping, so...
- You will do much work 2 or 3 times.
- They will constantly change priorities.
- They will forget they changed priorities, so...
- They will complain when a lower priority isn't done.
- You won't get paid on time.
- You will spend lots of time trying to get paid.
- They will always find some excuse to not pay.
- You may never get paid.
- If it's good, it's because they thought of it.
- If it's bad, it's because you suck.
- You can't win.
Honestly, I wish we could tattoo these people to save the next developer all the heartache. As soon as you realize they want it fast, good, and cheap, “run” the other way.