I'm pretty sure from own experience that supplying solutions to business customers at scale is not easy without being a proven business yourself. The other way

I'm pretty sure from own experience that supplying solutions to business customers at scale is not easy without being a proven business yourself. The other way round is doing contract work for them, essentially selling your solutions very cheap. In the middle, you may want to become an r&d employee in order to achieve financial security while working on your own project for a single customer aka your employer. In the latter case, bonuses and intellectual rights exploitation may be agreed, if the interest is mutual and your solution is big.