Startup Journey Stories
What will you do if you encounter this?
Where do I even begin with this one?
Picture this: you’re all jazzed up about a potential partnership, right?
You’ve got this IoT solution that’s like the Swiss Army knife of tech solutions — versatile, innovative, the whole nine yards.
You dive headfirst into the deep end, doing your homework, crunching the numbers, and basically bending over backwards to tailor-make this solution architecture.
You’re talking pricing, materials, the works. And not just any materials, but the crème de la crème, sourced after what feels like a million discussions with various companies who, bless their hearts, took the time to entertain our endless queries.
So there we were, practically oozing optimism, dreaming about the hundreds of sites we were going to revolutionize in 2024.
And then, out of nowhere, radio silence.
Crickets.
It’s like sending a text to your crush and watching that ‘read’ notification mock you without a reply.
So, what do I do? I chase them down, of course, because hey, maybe they’re just playing hard to get, right?
Wrong.
Cue the next meeting, where I’m hit with the kind of plot twist you’d expect from a telenovela.
Not only have they not decided to go ahead with us, but they’ve also got their eye on other solutions, and — get this — our meticulously crafted, bespoke solution apparently doesn’t meet their ‘standards.’ I mean, ouch.
Talk about a blow to the ego.
But here’s the kicker: there was zero feedback.
Nada.
It’s like our proposal was a free sample they snagged while window shopping. And that’s when it hit me — our proposal was probably used as a bargaining chip or, worse, handed over to their preferred partner on a silver platter.
Talk about feeling used.
Trust me, the frustration was real.
It’s one thing to lose out on a project, but it’s a whole other ballgame to feel like your hard work was just a means to an end for someone else’s negotiations.
It felt like our proposal was hijacked, and not in a cool, action-movie kind of way.
So, what’s the moral of the story? I’ve learned the hard way that not all partners are created equal.
Trust is like that favorite hoodie of yours — comfortable, hard to find, and easy to lose. And once it’s gone, well, it’s pretty darn hard to get back.
The experience was a wake-up call.
Sure, it’s a bummer to realize that not everyone plays fair in the sandbox, but it’s also a reminder to guard your sandbox a little more carefully.
And maybe, just maybe, to not get too attached to potential partners until they’ve proven they’re not just in it for a free ride on your coattails.
So, to all the would-be partners out there, let’s keep it classy, shall we?
Because nobody likes feeling like they’ve been ghosted after pouring their heart and soul into a project.
Dr. Mazlan Abbas 