Paul Graham on Big Companies' Endless Startup Meetings
Andrew Wilkinson agrees and flags similar pitfalls in private equity deals.
Paul Graham posted that startups face a specific risk when selling to large companies. The firms rarely refuse directly. Instead they schedule months of meetings that founders may read as serious interest. Graham noted that such companies mostly hold meetings and enjoy the process. Andrew Wilkinson replied that the observation matches his experience exactly. He added that founders often fail to understand the actual structure of private equity offers labeled around $100m. The posts highlight how visible replies on X treat both patterns as routine founder warnings.
The danger of selling to big companies, if you're a startup, is that they don't say no outright. They have months of meetings with you first. Since you hate meetings, that seems to you a sign of commitment. But it's not. They love having meetings! It's almost all they do.
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Paul Graham on Big Companies' Endless Startup Meetings
Andrew Wilkinson agrees and flags similar pitfalls in private equity deals.
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5 postsGOD THIS IS SO ON POINT
The danger of selling to big companies, if you're a startup, is that they don't say no outright. They have months of meetings with you first. Since you hate meetings, that seems to you a sign of commitment. But it's not. They love having meetings! It's almost all they do.
See also: Pref terms from private equity. No founder understands the reality of the “$100m” highly structured offer.
This is why P̵L̵G̵ ALG will always be king for startups. Have p̵e̵o̵p̵l̵e̵ agents adopt your product first, then have the meetings, if needed. The companies that start with the meetings are likely not your ideal customers.
The danger of selling to big companies, if you're a startup, is that they don't say no outright. They have months of meetings with you first. Since you hate meetings, that seems to you a sign of commitment. But it's not. They love having meetings! It's almost all they do.
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The danger of selling to big companies, if you're a startup, is that they don't say no outright. They have months of meetings with you first. Since you hate meetings, that seems to you a sign of commitment. But it's not. They love having meetings! It's almost all they do.
This is generally true. Looks like a bug, sometimes a feature. You want someone at the big company who can give you a fast answer. And that's not always the answer you want.
The danger of selling to big companies, if you're a startup, is that they don't say no outright. They have months of meetings with you first. Since you hate meetings, that seems to you a sign of commitment. But it's not. They love having meetings! It's almost all they do.