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Don't buy from bad startups. 1. Startups have a high(er) chance of pivoting out of something you don't want. They aren't stuck selling you the same bloated dat

by nwenzel 13y ago

Don't buy from bad startups. 1. Startups have a high(er) chance of pivoting out of something you don't want. They aren't stuck selling you the same bloated database (or whatever). 2. Don't buy from startups that don't have a path to monetization and growth. If the path leads to no where. That's not a company, that's a resume bullet point. 3. Don't buy from a startup just because they're a startup. If they suck at service, they're not worth your time and money. 4. Yes, startups should fit to customer expectations. But if a big company's or govt's buying model prevents them from buying a superior product, then maybe something is wrong with the buying model. Govt buying decisions led to a $300M webapp. Marc Benioff offered to build and host it for free for 5 years. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/healthcaregov-will-meet-deadline-for-fixes-white-house-officials-say/2013/11/29/caf6a236-5792-11e3-835d-e7173847c7cc_story_1.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/health... "A White House official said the administration could not have accepted the offer, because it ran afoul of federal contracting rules."

callmeed 13y ago
OF COURSE something is wrong with the govt/edu buying model (I worked at a college for 5 years). But I still think it's worth playing the game if that's within your target market. Are you saying don't sell to them on principle?
- nwenzel 13y ago
  Of course they should. Marc Benioff tried to sell to the govt. Govt couldn't buy it. Couldn't even evaluate it. We're talking to several universities now to find the best way to serve them. Sometimes we run into structural road blocks. One school requires a printed hard copy form be sent between departments for processing. But we're still trying to find a way to make it work. Mostly because I'm hellbent on moving companies, schools, and governments from paper to digital.
mbesto 13y ago
> "Don't buy from bad startups." Do you have a resource that can definitively tell which startups are bad and which ones are good?
- nwenzel 13y ago
  If I did, I'd have already sold my Facebook and Twitter shares and sprinkle words of wisdom down upon the masses. Or become a VC. But, if I'm a company looking for vendors, I evaluate "good" vs "bad" in the context of sustainability of the org. If they don't have a path to profitability and sustainability as a company, they're bad. If they do, they still may fail. But big companies fail too. I know no one gets fired for buying Oracle, but what are you missing if you ignore Postgres?
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    Postgres isn't a startup, it's open source software that you implement yourself. If the people currently supporting it decide to stop supporting it, then other people will (eventually) step in to fill the void. In the meantime you can keep on trucking with your working production code. Rely on a startup and when it fails, the part of your business that relies on it fails with it.

by nwenzel 13y ago

callmeed 13y ago

OF COURSE something is wrong with the govt/edu buying model (I worked at a college for 5 years). But I still think it's worth playing the game if that's within your target market. Are you saying don't sell to them on principle?

nwenzel 13y ago
Of course they should. Marc Benioff tried to sell to the govt. Govt couldn't buy it. Couldn't even evaluate it. We're talking to several universities now to find the best way to serve them. Sometimes we run into structural road blocks. One school requires a printed hard copy form be sent between departments for processing. But we're still trying to find a way to make it work. Mostly because I'm hellbent on moving companies, schools, and governments from paper to digital.

mbesto 13y ago

> "Don't buy from bad startups." Do you have a resource that can definitively tell which startups are bad and which ones are good?

nwenzel 13y ago
If I did, I'd have already sold my Facebook and Twitter shares and sprinkle words of wisdom down upon the masses. Or become a VC. But, if I'm a company looking for vendors, I evaluate "good" vs "bad" in the context of sustainability of the org. If they don't have a path to profitability and sustainability as a company, they're bad. If they do, they still may fail. But big companies fail too. I know no one gets fired for buying Oracle, but what are you missing if you ignore Postgres?
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  Postgres isn't a startup, it's open source software that you implement yourself. If the people currently supporting it decide to stop supporting it, then other people will (eventually) step in to fill the void. In the meantime you can keep on trucking with your working production code. Rely on a startup and when it fails, the part of your business that relies on it fails with it.