John Favaro (http://www.favaro.net/john/) is an independent consultant based in Pisa, Italy. He is interested in the economics of AgileMethods, ExtremeProgramming in particular.
KentBeck's characterization of XP as an options-driven process can be traced back to John's ideas on using real options theory to analyze software investments. Kent and John met in 1996 in Palo Alto, where Kent introduced John to patterns and John introduced Kent to present value concepts in the analysis of investments in software reuse. They began a correspondence again in 1999 when Kent was working on "Extreme Programming Explained" and John was working on the application of real options theory to the study of flexibility in software reuse. Chapter 3 of "Extreme Programming Explained" was the result.
John gave the tutorial "Extreme Options: The Economics of Flexibility" at the XpTwoThousandAndOne conference in Sardinia. That led to a collaboration with HakanErdogmus, and they've been working together ever since. John and Hakan have combined their efforts recently to produce a chapter in the book XpPerspectives that recounts the XP options story from a to z.
See also EconomicsOfXp, EconomicsOfYagni, AnalyzingXpWithOptionsPricing, FinancialEffectsOfIterations.
CategoryPerson (page provided by HakanErdogmus)