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If you give them access to your code what's to stop them kicking you to the curb and taking it for themselves? Free code and no need to pay you. The fact that

If you give them access to your code what's to stop them kicking you to the curb and taking it for themselves? Free code and no need to pay you. The fact that you're a sole founder should be zero issue with clients, frankly it's none of their concern at all how your company is structured. The fact that they think it is their concern leads me to believe your presenting yourself as a one man band as opposed to a professional company which is something you can control.

mindcrime 8y ago
I mean, I would not necessarily argue that one must volunteer that they are a one person shop. But if, for the sake of argument, a prospect flat out asks, what are you going to do? Lie? Personally I would not, as I think dishonesty of that sort (or really of any sort) is a bad basis for any kind of business relationship. OTOH, if you do own up to being a one person (or otherwise very small) shop, you also have the opportunity to "own it" and turn that to your advantage. Point out how "With IBM or Amazon, you are not going to get the CEO's personal cell-phone number so you can call him/her at 3:00 am if shit goes sideways... with us, you will have that." You can probably use your imagination to figure out other ways to promote the advantages of working with a smaller company, especially if you can paint your competition as a nameless, faceless, bureaucratic, Kafkaesque, corporate behemoth.
saas_q 8y ago
> If you give them access to your code what's to stop them kicking you to the curb and taking it for themselves? Free code and no need to pay you. The code is already OS. They are paying me for convenience (don't have to self host) and my expertise. > The fact that you're a sole founder should be zero issue with clients, frankly it's none of their concern at all how your company is structured. I think you're very wrong about this. I think my customers are correct to be wary about trusting a key part of their business to a single founder just due to the bus factor problem. > The fact that they think it is their concern leads me to believe your presenting yourself as a one man band as opposed to a professional company which is something you can control. As mindcrime says, I'm obviously not going to lie about it. It's also pretty obvious I am extremely small compared to my competitors given the very niche market I'm part of.

mindcrime 8y ago

I mean, I would not necessarily argue that one must volunteer that they are a one person shop. But if, for the sake of argument, a prospect flat out asks, what are you going to do? Lie? Personally I would not, as I think dishonesty of that sort (or really of any sort) is a bad basis for any kind of business relationship. OTOH, if you do own up to being a one person (or otherwise very small) shop, you also have the opportunity to "own it" and turn that to your advantage. Point out how "With IBM or Amazon, you are not going to get the CEO's personal cell-phone number so you can call him/her at 3:00 am if shit goes sideways... with us, you will have that." You can probably use your imagination to figure out other ways to promote the advantages of working with a smaller company, especially if you can paint your competition as a nameless, faceless, bureaucratic, Kafkaesque, corporate behemoth.

saas_q 8y ago

> If you give them access to your code what's to stop them kicking you to the curb and taking it for themselves? Free code and no need to pay you. The code is already OS. They are paying me for convenience (don't have to self host) and my expertise. > The fact that you're a sole founder should be zero issue with clients, frankly it's none of their concern at all how your company is structured. I think you're very wrong about this. I think my customers are correct to be wary about trusting a key part of their business to a single founder just due to the bus factor problem. > The fact that they think it is their concern leads me to believe your presenting yourself as a one man band as opposed to a professional company which is something you can control. As mindcrime says, I'm obviously not going to lie about it. It's also pretty obvious I am extremely small compared to my competitors given the very niche market I'm part of.