An interesting situation arise this last weekend. An individual with whom we had professionally (but informally) partnered left his original employment at Company A to go out on his own. (Company A was failing in its business model and looked like it was not long for the world.) As part of his severance package, he was given a contract on which RTBS had provided minor verbal assistance. The contract was large enough that it would have kept him afloat for a marked period of time as well as providing him with a great entre into other business opportunities.
This individual physically relocated to another area of the country, registered his own DBA and then started operating on his own, contacting us for advice and partnering opportunities regarding this larger contract--we were asked to provide guidance, project management as well as some technical implementation. Not a large contract for us, but an interesting one with significant growth opportunity. After working through the discovery process with this individual, we submitted a response to the RFP and awaited a formal response.
To my surprise, I heard through the grapevine that our solo-operating individual had decided to return to work for Company A, that Company A had 'taken back' the entire contract and that we were going to receive a verbal 'thanks for your assistance' on the project. Normally, I would chalk it up to my foolishness, trusting individual A without anything in writing from him yet, however the risk at the time was minimal because of the personal relationship factors between the individual and Company A had become so toxic as to, in my judgment, ever permit Company A working with the individual again.
In this case, we will do a quick exploratory research into the causes of our intelligence failure--were we taken for a ride or was there a random chance event/something that we missed? Regardless or the ultimate cause, the end result of this scenario is that any dealings with Company A and this individual will be on a cash first, paper-deal only.
Surprised but not shocked
-Shawn
This individual physically relocated to another area of the country, registered his own DBA and then started operating on his own, contacting us for advice and partnering opportunities regarding this larger contract--we were asked to provide guidance, project management as well as some technical implementation. Not a large contract for us, but an interesting one with significant growth opportunity. After working through the discovery process with this individual, we submitted a response to the RFP and awaited a formal response.
To my surprise, I heard through the grapevine that our solo-operating individual had decided to return to work for Company A, that Company A had 'taken back' the entire contract and that we were going to receive a verbal 'thanks for your assistance' on the project. Normally, I would chalk it up to my foolishness, trusting individual A without anything in writing from him yet, however the risk at the time was minimal because of the personal relationship factors between the individual and Company A had become so toxic as to, in my judgment, ever permit Company A working with the individual again.
In this case, we will do a quick exploratory research into the causes of our intelligence failure--were we taken for a ride or was there a random chance event/something that we missed? Regardless or the ultimate cause, the end result of this scenario is that any dealings with Company A and this individual will be on a cash first, paper-deal only.
Surprised but not shocked
-Shawn
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