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> The breaking point came when one of our customers was acquired by Oracle. They wanted to keep using our product, but had to move from our original contract to

> The breaking point came when one of our customers was acquired by Oracle. They wanted to keep using our product, but had to move from our original contract to the one that Oracle uses. In exchange for this, they were willing to increase the price they were paying from $6,000 to $24,000 per year. This is a cool idea, but the irony here is that Oracle probably still wouldn't use the Common Paper contract and insist on their own contracts instead. So am not sure if it is solving this particular problem.

jagged-chisel 3y ago
Today, no. But if the industry can standardize, it might get the behemoths to consider similar frameworks for the reduced expense and increased predictability. Maybe it won’t solve that particular problem today, but it stands a chance of improving things in the future … IFF someone is willing to start something now.
- jakestein 3y ago
  This is well said and a really important point that I often forget to highlight. If we're successful, the big companies will see a huge benefit. I've interviewed a bunch of folks on enterprise procurement teams. They won't be early adopters, but they do want something like it to exist.
jakestein 3y ago
Oracle and companies like it are definitely the hardest to get on board. That being said, our users have already closed deals with Fortune 500 companies using the standard contracts, and they see a big decrease in the percentage of deals that they have to do on their customer's contracts. We're also encouraged by the examples of standard contracts in other domains that have gotten traction with large enterprises. Basically all of the big banks use the ISDA master agreement^1 for financial derivatives, and the vast majority of ads sold on the internet use the IAB standard terms^2. 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISDA_Master_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISDA_Master_Agreement 2https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IAB_4As-tsandcs-FINAL.pdf https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IAB_4As-tsand...
- matthewmcg 3y ago
  Came here to make the comment that there are certain industry specific contract forms that are very deeply embedded in very narrow domains, including things like NAEBs (natural gas commodity sales) and the AIA Contract Forms (construction). And of course real estate. Some are publicly available. Others need to be purchased from the organizations that create them. The common factor seems to be sponsorship by an enduring organization that is widely trusted.
  - jakestein 3y ago
    I had heard of the AIA forms but not the NAEB, thanks for sharing that one. Looking forward to checking it out. I really like the framing of "an enduring organization that is widely trusted." Many of these are industry associations, but YC doesn't fit that criteria with the SAFE. Your definition captures all of the examples I can think of.

jagged-chisel 3y ago

Today, no. But if the industry can standardize, it might get the behemoths to consider similar frameworks for the reduced expense and increased predictability. Maybe it won’t solve that particular problem today, but it stands a chance of improving things in the future … IFF someone is willing to start something now.

jakestein 3y ago
This is well said and a really important point that I often forget to highlight. If we're successful, the big companies will see a huge benefit. I've interviewed a bunch of folks on enterprise procurement teams. They won't be early adopters, but they do want something like it to exist.

jakestein 3y ago

Oracle and companies like it are definitely the hardest to get on board. That being said, our users have already closed deals with Fortune 500 companies using the standard contracts, and they see a big decrease in the percentage of deals that they have to do on their customer's contracts. We're also encouraged by the examples of standard contracts in other domains that have gotten traction with large enterprises. Basically all of the big banks use the ISDA master agreement^1 for financial derivatives, and the vast majority of ads sold on the internet use the IAB standard terms^2. 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISDA_Master_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISDA_Master_Agreement 2https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IAB_4As-tsandcs-FINAL.pdf https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IAB_4As-tsand...

matthewmcg 3y ago
Came here to make the comment that there are certain industry specific contract forms that are very deeply embedded in very narrow domains, including things like NAEBs (natural gas commodity sales) and the AIA Contract Forms (construction). And of course real estate. Some are publicly available. Others need to be purchased from the organizations that create them. The common factor seems to be sponsorship by an enduring organization that is widely trusted.
- jakestein 3y ago
  I had heard of the AIA forms but not the NAEB, thanks for sharing that one. Looking forward to checking it out. I really like the framing of "an enduring organization that is widely trusted." Many of these are industry associations, but YC doesn't fit that criteria with the SAFE. Your definition captures all of the examples I can think of.