thibo_skabgia

What are the options then?

Listed OSS business models here if useful: https://github.com/anhtho-lago/awesome-opensource-company#bu...

Also, the comments here were interesting: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37682684

Super interesting! Curious about the origin story of Lastmileai if you don’t mind sharing?

Are there any other open source alternatives to ChatGPT?

Very well written and so true. For myself, I have trouble dealing with people who want (need?) to prove they're here. Most of the time, they are overdoing it, and it is clear that it's about themselves. Just see if people are responsive to your "support". Otherwise, You're just making it worse.

When do you think it's too late though?

In some of the companies I've worked at, design was the last priority and at some point, making the effort to switch to a proper design system and do the front-end migration seemed too daunting. So it was never prioritized, until the exit.

We all need such tactics rn! Billing is still quite a pain, especially usage-based, when you're growing fast and iterating on your pricing.

Another significant pain is cash collection: it takes too much time for poor results and antagonizes customers. + there's a compounding effect of your uncollected invoices every month to the point where you end up writing off invoices... At Upflow (YC W20), we consider that MRR should be what you collect, not what you invoice. That's why we help companies collect their cash faster with our 2 click integrations to your invoicing tool and customer payment portals.

YC companies can actually benefit from a great discount right now => look for it in Bookface.

Asking for a business plan when you’re at seed stage is completely bonkers…

EUR feels still stuck in a world where you have to figure out everything from the get-go. Hence, I think Europe still attaches a stigma to pivoting, whereas it's a rite of passage in the US indeed. Hopefully that kind of posts helps changing that!

So true! I’ve met several companies living this exact scenario on billing: trying to balance building vs buying. None being acceptable solutions. The first one dedicates so much of your developers on a project that a actually never ends. Which is obviously not an viable option. The second is so expensive you end-up considering the first… and most of the time you still have to fit a circle in a square.

Open source would definitely solve this!

Hey, I feel your pain. The "hope-for-the-best process" definitely is something happening in many companies... Yet, it's not a fatality anymore. I work with Upflow (YC 20) and it is exactly what we offer to our clients : 1. Making sure they have clear visibility on their AR 2. designing systematized workflows for their customers (as many as needed) 3. Customer payment portals to help their customers pay on time, with no friction. That's here at www.upflow.io

Love this comprehensive article. I’ve seen that pain in many a company I freelanced for. And it’s much deeper than they even know.