My experience as an observer is that people at big and small companies will try to get free stuff as long as possible, then they'll negotiate forever, then they

My experience as an observer is that people at big and small companies will try to get free stuff as long as possible, then they'll negotiate forever, then they will never pay until threatened. Some big companies have as part of their business plan to put their smaller partners out of business just as a product is delivered or project finished. I feel you made the right move wrt the VP. Working with F500 companies requires a long time commitment and your company needs some weight. You need something that forces the F500 to re-engage and pay up after their first attempt to screw you. Secondly VPs don't typically go looking for technology to buy. They tell people below them to do that and then just sign off. In your case the VP literally wanted some free tech to show off at a conference. You need to sell to someone lower level who is not going to be a man child. Imagine someone who went through childhood and then just...kept going. Next time offer some free on-site consulting and then get the low level managers you meet to buy in to the project and actually pay (to impress their vp, of course!)