How does someone get into a position like that? Are you an independent consultant or do you work for a company? Is this exclusively what you consult on?
His comment while accurate was probably a bit dramatized for effect.
My guess is he is a consultant hired to do a typical project (i.e., help me move X into the cloud, help me re-architect our data model for big data, help me implement AI for our dog walking app) and at that point he just shows them they aren't ready for it or flat out don't need it.
It's just my guess, but it's what consultants do. The bad ones are happy to take on your project and charge you $400 bucks an hour. The good ones unfortunately, deal with the dilemma of turning down lucrative work in the spirit of doing what's right.
My guess is that at some point you get tired of it and take solace in the fact that you're at least helping them to do it right.
After all, if they think they are going to hit big data scale and want the tools to handle it, you aren't completely a bad guy if you help them do it right, especially if you've already advised them not to do it.
I regret to inform you that my original comment was sarcasm. I'm not a consultant, but would be perfectly willing to do the job as I described. The hardest part would be keeping a straight face while demanding the $20k.
