Comments on: You’re most vulnerable right after you win a deal

By: msuster

msuster — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:02:10 +0000

Thank you for the feedback.

By: max191

max191 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:54:13 +0000

Your blog is timely reinforcement about the purpose of blogs and what I aspire to as well. Really good one!
regards
charcoal grill

By: msuster

msuster — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:01:45 +0000

Yes, if you click through and read the original post I go into more details about the loss. But we basically considered alerting the UK competition authorities because overturning the decision was so biased and egregious. In the end we decided to just move on.

By: msuster

msuster — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:01:45 +0000

By: adityavempaty

adityavempaty — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:48:25 +0000

Wow, eye opening post. I have always thought that the competition would not go away is the case. Even after you have “won”. But to what extent the “enemy” is willing to go depends on how well you gauge them right? Thus Its not over until the ink is dry and check is in the bank is accurate, but also making sure your end of the agreement to deliver services is done to the T and dotted with the I. How did you handle lossing out the contract after having won it? This prolly is the hardest part to recover from correct?

By: adityavempaty

adityavempaty — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:48:25 +0000

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:19:02 +0000

I think it's “You are most vulnerable when they tell you that you have won the deal but you don't yet have a signed contract and your first payment.” Early stage startups in particular are better served by measuring their progress by counting endorsements from paying customers than telephone calls announcing they have “won” the deal.

By: David Smuts

David Smuts — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:57:13 +0000

Mark, you're being too modest now. You wouldn't be where are you are today without having had to fight along the way- life's just not that easy. So YES it is in your charachter because you're an acheiver- it's just you might have chosen your fights carefully and strategically. No point in fighting every battle- fight the ones that matter most.

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:19:02 +0000

By: msuster

msuster — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:17:45 +0000

The funny thing is that the “explanation for the losers” is rarely accurate. That's the hard bit – looking beyond what they tell you and doing the no-holds-barred, no blame, post-game analysis on why you really lost. It's more of an art than a science I think.