Why healthy startups need to avoid cloud credits like junk food.
It’s tempting right? $25k up front and available to use on whatever you want to use.
The biggest issue with this premise is that you aren’t taught, similarly to what fast-food
or tobacco do, is to learn moderation and/or restraint.
Why should you learn restraint? Because it’s easy to let your startup go and use those
credits on anything and anything. GPU Farm? Done! 12TB Database? No Problem!
What you’re not being taught is why these technologies are being utilised, how much
you should *actually* be using and more importantly, why they are relevant for the
growth of your startup.
Coming from personal experience, the biggest issue I faced with other vendors during
my own startups were the following:
- Vendor 1: You got given carte blanch on credits, go ahead and enjoy. Did I have any
clue what I was doing? No. Did I have any guidance on what to use? No. A huge
amount relied on the community to recommend best practices and services to get me
started.
- Vendor 2: Here is your $25k credits, enjoy! You need some technical assistance? It’ll
cost you! Let’s be generous and give you some time with a technical resource to help
guide you on the technology and perhaps some suggestions on how to move forward.
Do you now understand why these programs are broken?
At Oracle, we’re learning, we want to be different. We understand nothing will be perfect
in what every startup wants.
Personally, speaking as an Oracle for Startups Ambassador and Cloud Architect, I want
to know what startups and businesses are doing with our technology and how it is
impacting both us and your team. This change of thinking helps reframe our
understanding on startups, as well as what you want to achieve as a growing business.
So if credits don’t matter? What should I do?
What you should have done and be bootstrapped. Don’t waste away credits like it was
your own money. Be conscious to what you’re using and the impact it has to you and
your future expenditure.
I don’t apologise for that comment. You need to be accountable for you own spending
and what you’re using.
In turn, you need a provider that is accountable for your success, rather than your
quarterly or yearly annual commitment to the business and the revenue you bring to
them.
Success goes both ways.