I like that story, but I also usually think of some extra lessons (for the printing-press owners): - Operations-critical knowledge should be documented - mitig

I like that story, but I also usually think of some extra lessons (for the printing-press owners): - Operations-critical knowledge should be documented - mitigate the "bus factor" (http://www.ask.com/wiki/Bus_factor http://www.ask.com/wiki/Bus_factor) - There are often-neglected big support advantages of buying from large suppliers with good support. (ok, big corporations do take that into account, but for small startups, making sure that the buyer feels at ease not having such a case blow up in their faces is important, and same for buying mission-critical software, though having a disruptive/competitive-advantage generating app might be worth the risk)