> my experience is the opposite I suggest that your experience is not universal, and might even be anomalous. Please, look at other comments on this story. A

> my experience is the opposite I suggest that your experience is not universal, and might even be anomalous. Please, look at other comments on this story. A significant majority of the stories people are telling involve long lead times, expensive POCs, unpaid invoices, and so on. There's at least one mention of a "customer" who it turned out lacked the budgetary authority to make the purchase - something I've seen myself at two companies that fell into this trap. This is the same pattern I've seen every other time or place this topic has come up. Large companies are often more risk-averse because of internal politics and policies. Their systems and procedures are often the thing that make the sales process slower and more difficult. And they will use the carrot of that ever-in-the-future big sale to wring every last bit of free work out of a desperate startup. I think it's great that you've had a different experience, but only in the same way I think it's great if someone who walked into a den of lions got out alive. I wouldn't present it as the normal case.