I think there are many more options that you are perhaps not aware of. You can hire contractors to work with your clients either for an hourly wage or for commission. At the other end of the spectrum is factoring, where you sell your AR outright in exchange for cash up front. This is common in industries like retail where there's a long wait between manufacturing goods and getting paid for them.
The idea that big companies would care about a payment rating misunderstands the relationship. When your startup has an opportunity to close a sale on a BigCo and you find they have a history of taking a few months to pay... what do you did with that information? Insist on custom contract terms? Walk away?
I don't doubt that it's possible to create a startup that does something like Factoring and just does it really well (perhaps especially with better marketing). But that's true of any industry. I don't see any analogy to the Taxi/Uber disruption. It would fundamentally be the same thing.
> The idea that big companies would care about a payment rating misunderstands the relationship. When your startup has an opportunity to close a sale on a BigCo and you find they have a history of taking a few months to pay... what do you did with that information? Insist on custom contract terms? Walk away?
Heh. Work less or hedge the bets.
I am saying it because I am familiar with the situation. A certain acronym company which may or may not be associated with the colour blue had a minor PoC gig and invited a bunch of contractors on loose terms. Many worked around the clock. Closer to the end of the project, it became apparent that there will be issues with the payment. Smarter guys bailed out.
Knowledge is power. There are always options. Kids in their twenties may be mesmerised by the power of known logos, then they learn that it's more about the figures.
The idea that big companies would care about a payment rating misunderstands the relationship. When your startup has an opportunity to close a sale on a BigCo and you find they have a history of taking a few months to pay... what do you did with that information? Insist on custom contract terms? Walk away?
I don't doubt that it's possible to create a startup that does something like Factoring and just does it really well (perhaps especially with better marketing). But that's true of any industry. I don't see any analogy to the Taxi/Uber disruption. It would fundamentally be the same thing.