Quote from: 2112 on June 10, 2018, 11:15:36 PM

Thank you very much for your very thoughtful and well reasoned reply. You don't have to explain yourself to me, I'm fully supporting the general gist of your business model. I've made a comment about your question related to financial side of the deal.

Way too many people in the cryptosphere are getting "some crazy guy walking in off the streets" treatment because they focus on the wrong things: how they dress to the meeting, what car they roll in with, etc. and most importantly: they seem to be proud of not knowing anything about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code . So I really doubt you when you say they asked about "cold hard cash" (do they asked for suitcases or would plain bags be OK?) This isn't some contraband deal, properly drafted letter of credit would be actually better than a suitcase of money, because it is not only a guarantee of payment but also very good promise of the future business.

I've been in this business, met some people both successful (like Xilinx) and failures (like Plus Logic, but search for "Plus Logic Inc", otherwise you'll get overwhelmed with irrelevant stuff). I don't really know what happened at your meeting, but I went through very detailed postmortems of the meetings (and lawsuits) I was then involved. So I have some actual knowledge what led to success and what caused the failures.

It may look like nitpicking, but it starts with really small things:

1) using correct physical units (e.g. kWh and not Kw per hour or similar abominations) and other technological details;
2) using correct semantics (e.g. subject-object distinction) even if the grammar is lacking;
3) not mixing up an agent with a principal in a transaction;

and ends up at really important stuff like:

4) know what you don't know and don't be afraid to admit to it.

Oftentimes the experienced businesspeople will intentionally say something disagreeable or outright stupid just to gauge the reaction of the interlocutor and to see firsthand how they will get corrected or even if they get corrected at all. Many salespeople are so drilled (or self-drilled) into ABC (Always Be Closing) that they will try to agree just about to anything if they think that brings them nearer to closing. Success with retail sales (e.g. fast talking and clever one-liners) doesn't always translate into a success in the high-level transactions.

I don't know who advised you on the financial and legal side of this deal. But if you hire a good lawyer, he will tell you mostly the same things I type in here for free. But the good commercial lawyer will know the details of the UCC and will not be trying to make general statements like I'm doing here for the benefit of readers of an Internet forum. In particular you may want to have an in-person review of what was said in your meetings and conversations with Xilinx & Paypal while your memory is still fresh. You guys are getting prepaid terms probably because you had somehow inadvertently behaved like common scammers despite actually trying to work a legitimate deal.

And that is my "angle" in this thread.

I know exactly what my problem is in these meetings. Personality. I have a very low tolerance for bullshit and I'm not afraid to burn a bridge out of principle. In addition I can be flippant, facetious, condescending, and generally just a giant ass. You do you.

No one can know everything. That's why I've got a team of engineers doing stuff I can't do. Or a lawyer who managed to get PayPal on the phone with me on Saturday at 7pm within just 4 hours of them having received a 5 page letter and being surprisingly amiable -- I couldn't have done that. Everyone has their own skills and it's a team (or as it will be the case for the shell and these fpga, a community) effort. I'm sure you can imagine.

You realize we're not the only ones who've tried to do this right? I've heard about groups out of singapore, germany, china, to name a few all clamoring for these chips. Xilinx has steadfastly refused to do business with ANY of them. In the end, of all these secret groups looking to get their hands on these chips, they ended up doing business with us. They DO NOT trust the market. I'm not sure I can say it to you any clearer. Your beliefs and assumptions are not based in fact.

edit:

btw, you obviously have intimate knowledge of xilinx, fpga, and have been on the forum as long as I have.... Where did you say you were from again? I think I can taste a little salt in the air.