couldnt agree more. i have had several big deals in the pipeline, one of which i closed.
in retrospect the effort wasnt worth it. the deal consumed many months of our focus and work (plus as a bonus a neverending worry on our minds, because of continuous small requests), during which we werent able to advance our product.
at the end of the day, it is all about creating a great product, which will then sell itself.
in contrast to that, closing a big deal has often more to do with 1-2 senior people at a big company thinking that they need this product for their customers. those senior people may be wrong, because they dont have a good feel about what new technology is attractive to people. and the kicker: no matter how big the deal, once no benefits materialize for the big company, they will kill the cooperation quickly (and usually have ensured enough fineprint to be able to do so).
in retrospect the effort wasnt worth it. the deal consumed many months of our focus and work (plus as a bonus a neverending worry on our minds, because of continuous small requests), during which we werent able to advance our product.
at the end of the day, it is all about creating a great product, which will then sell itself.
in contrast to that, closing a big deal has often more to do with 1-2 senior people at a big company thinking that they need this product for their customers. those senior people may be wrong, because they dont have a good feel about what new technology is attractive to people. and the kicker: no matter how big the deal, once no benefits materialize for the big company, they will kill the cooperation quickly (and usually have ensured enough fineprint to be able to do so).
my summary: there is no free lunch :)