Monday, July 13, 2009

Ever feeling like this face to face with a major Corporation ?

As a startup, an SME or a Developer have you ever been feeling like this when trying to partner or deal with a major Corporation ?

























The New York Times is having a pretty positive view at this partnership trend between SMEs and big corporations with examples from Microsoft, FedEx or American Express or of course, Procter & Gamble and their 'Connect & Develop' programme.
But on the other hand, things do not look so good when it comes to help startups and developers manage their killing issue i.e. their Cash Flow as indicated in the WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership) July Report : 'The number one developer issue I've heard the last few months is not about fragmentation or monetization; it's about cash flow and getting paid, especially from the big companies. It seems like the larger companies are pushing out their payment dates from 30 - 45 days, to 45-90 days or longer. In fact, some developers have stated that they have not seen payments from app/operator store sales for even 6-12 months! With staff turnover/layoffs high, there is also the 'missing invoice' phenomena..... Most folks in the big companies don't really understand that $10k-$100k may be chump change for them; but for a small company it means a lot. Doing the 'payroll dance' at the end of the month, and hoping the stars align on cash flow is very stressful. Wouldn't it be better to spend the time on innovation and making better apps?'

Not mentioning the great potential of APIs that are starting to be seen as the 'Next Marketing platform'.

In a way it is quite funny to see that in a world where Telcos, Internet and IT players are fighting and competing to attract the best Startups and Developers around their platforms and APIs with Brand campaigns, Super Events, Newsletters and Online presence, etc. the easiest way to have the strongest competitive advantage today is to ...JUST PAY THEIR BILLS ON TIME !

bluenove is a consulting firm developing and supporting Open Innovation programmes for major corporations