I'm saying we should enter into formal contracts for services that are vital to the running of our businesses. That way there's more protection against getting the rug pulled out from underneath us.
That's easier said than done. Try getting a meeting with the VP of Facebook, who's bonus depends on increasing ad revenue for Fortune 500's with a $100 million dollar budget. Or plow through and take the risk, and be the next Buffer.
Thanks to the MVP religion the expectation is now set that for any business should be able to get $2m in revenue with a $5,000 investment from your uncles and cousins. More often than not you’re taking these risks because you don’t have the money or infrastructure to ‘do it propperly’.
The risks you take in your business should be calculated risks. 100% of your business on data you haven't somehow ensured access to? Bad calculation if you ask me.
Most startups and companies (try to) act in good faith and will acquire a license. And, if they did not, they should foresee the legal and operational consequences.
Well YouTube was similar when it first started, no? People were uploading whatever they wanted, and eventually they rolled out DMCA takedown and reporting features for copyright infringement violations.
Over time, the service was setup with a full feature set to handle all of this, but it didn't exist when YouTube first started.
Sometimes a house of cards is exactly what you need to prove that it is a good idea. Then you can look for weaknesses and fortify the structure.
You just can't blame the wind when it comes and knocks down the house.
Also, I think half of startups and companies is a little bit high. I can't imagine that the majority of large companies are cool with this kind of risk.
