Signing a $50,000 contract when you don't have the money to pay for it sure is gambling alright, but it's gambling with someone else's time, money and livelihood. I sure hope the vendor was in on the risk.
There's a lesson in this for all you contractors out there. Take money up front (I used to expect 50% for small projects, but less for larger ones.) Don't assume your client necessarily has the money to pay once you've completed the job.
Yup. I just left a comment on the blog about this.
There's a little more context there that is probably relevant to this story. In short, the bet wasn't made quite so belligerently. It just so happened that unexpected circumstances made the situation a little more dire than we anticipated when we signed it.
Dear web 2.0 hipsters: there are guys like Elon Musk and John Carmack actually launching rockets. This is nothing to do with that. It's just a silly little website with a toy iPhone app. Please try to pick some halfway meaningful names.
It's post's like this, knowing others are going through the tough emotional cycles, that inspires and helps all of us. Yes building a company is still really f*cking hard!!
There's a lesson in this for all you contractors out there. Take money up front (I used to expect 50% for small projects, but less for larger ones.) Don't assume your client necessarily has the money to pay once you've completed the job.