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Yes, this is normal. Turn this around, and see it from the "big wig"'s angle. They get in some guys (you) who obviously have not been around the block a few ti
by yourapostasy 12y ago
Yes, this is normal.
Turn this around, and see it from the "big wig"'s angle. They get in some guys (you) who obviously have not been around the block a few times already. More importantly, there is no attorney present and no way after the meeting to establish who said what, when, to who, in what setting.
His upside to screw you nine ways to Sunday is a big bonus. Where's his downside? Simple: none.
You cannot even name and shame as someone else suggested. Retain an attorney to properly advise you before you put names up here post-May.
Chances are the "big wigs" you met were not C-level, nor the level of management below that. If my guess there is correct, then you were not really dealing with "big wigs"; you likely were dealing with essentially middle management. The closer to middle management you get, the more prevalent this cutthroat behavior comes out. I could post a wall of text on why I personally have found this to be the case in my anecdata experience, but this response is getting long in the tooth already. At Fortune 50 levels, if you are meeting with C-level or direct reports to C-levels, there might be some mitigating factors that makes them more trustworthy, but again, I don't have the time to get into that here.
Suffice to say, when these impressive-sounding Names start dropping by, you need someone with the sales experience to qualify the opportunity. There are ways to generally suss out how serious they are about vetting your team/tech/org, mostly in the vein of making them come to you. Most middle management won't have the budgetary clout to spend anywhere close to what a Big Name will really spend (easily 5 figures and up, or an equivalent amount of staff time and expenses) doing just due diligence evaluation.
- LargeCompanies 12y agoUmmm, no these two people report directly to a fairly well known name in tech. Also, what do I have to lose in naming and shaming them when we may just as well open source our work when we tell our story. I'm tired of being stepped on and not being able to get the right people behind & helping us!
- softbuilder 12y agoA thought: Big orgs have a hard time getting shit done. Lots of initiatives die before they even get out the door. Just because this bigwig was excited doesn't mean something will definitely come of it. Another thought is this might be a FUD play. Get you to give up so you're not threatening something else. Definitely interested to hear the story after your NDA period.
- yourapostasy 12y agoThe key is not the reporting chain as much as who has operational control of budgetary decision making. It far easier to find out who reports to whom than who really wields the check writing power, and how big a check they can write before they have to get someone else's approval. Right now, you have yet to open source and still have the potential to out-compete the Big Name. That is worth potential income in the future. Big Name might be impressive, but there are any number of people here that can tell you from first-hand experience why Big does not necessarily mean You Shouldn't Compete With Them. When you name and shame, your options narrow. You have no way to prove what happened, and you should get together with an attorney to find out how exposed you are to a lawsuit if you name and shame. And any potential future income can become entangled in litigation budgets if that happens. With regards to "the right people", you got a ton of them right here on HN. Rare is the deal that cannot wait a few days longer, especially large deals (for the Corp. Dev. guy pulling the trigger on an acquisition/acquihire it is still a big deal, just not as potentially a life-changing one as for you). Take advantage of that latency to ping the hivemind here and find out different opinions you and your braintrust might not have considered yet. If I blew up bridges every time I was stepped upon, then I wouldn't still be in business today. This happens in business; it's a very bloody game of inches that takes place over years and decades.
- LargeCompanies 12y agoThanks, but lawyers cost money and that resource is lacking for us. We tried and tried and tried to get out to the valley and via an incubator(YC or TechStars), but all we could get to help us are local incubators. We greatly appreciate their backing, but they do not have the backgrounds/experience/networks a YC or TechStars has to thoroughly help us. THough there are some people in this east coast town who could help us, but they do not seem receptive to. It's not like we haven't tried to connect with them, though!
- tarikjn 12y agoI am not a lawyer, but sounds like you don't have much to loose. It's your calculation to make, but you are probably in a position where calling them out publicly could bring you more benefits than harm (when that NDA expires, obviously), in term of visibility and respect. The net for society of doing that is most likely positive as you are forcing them and others to reconsider their behaviors and warning other entrepreneurs of this behavior. There is a risk they would try to sue your startup out of existence (ie. even if they don't have cause they can attempt to drown you in legal costs), but this would bring even greater attention to the matter.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]