Being overly dependent from a customer is considered to be an unacceptable risk for any startup or company. In the excellent book ‘Bootstrapping Complexity‘ by Kevin Kelly, based on a comparison with ecosystems, a slightly different view is offered:
“Here’s news : half of the living world is codependent ! Business consultants commonly warn their clients against becoming a symbiont company dependent upon a single customer – company , or a single supplier . But many do , and as far as I can tell , live profitable lives , no shorter on average than other companies . The surge of alliance – making in the 1990s among large corporations — particularly among those in the information and network industries — is another facet of an increasing coevolutionary economic world . Rather than eat or compete with a competitor , the two form an alliance — a symbiosis”
While I developed my first company on a stand-alone basis, I find increasingly that partnerships are good ways to develop value for our customers and the world. It can be messy, sometimes disappointing (I hate being taken hostage!) but also rewarding and enriching.
I fully agree that co-evolution is the way. Those entrepreneurs that resist collaboration with other entities and try to do everything themselves will fail. Co-evolution needs to be fostered.
