Ask HN: Huge enterprise customer wants to see our source code

I've seen huge enterprise customers ask similar things in the past. Especially with startups, they know that if they decide to steal your algorithm and replicate it, you will never be able to afford to sue them. I've seen a number of enterprises where they had a team large enough that they could throw whatever resources it took to build your solution and once they had some ideas how it worked, then they were off to the races.

It could also be a bluff to see how far they can push you. Enterprises love to ask for ridiculous things to see if they can get it. I once worked for a fairly large retailer ($10b/yr) that wanted to put into a contract with Microsoft that they could have access to the Windows and SQL Server source code.

my .02 from having been CTO at a SaaS analytics company for a long time: "we want to see how your algorithms made their decisions."

that's great product feedback. and a problem you need to solve. You shouldn't solve it by handing out your source code.

Here's a somewhat contrarian view - if what you are making is so good (or unique/special/non-trivial) that it is valuable to more than just one huge customer, then just because they are huge and you are seeing dollar signs, doesn't mean you should agree to their request without due consideration.

They may attempt to compete with you or re-implement what you do, but again - if what you did is so good and perhaps non-trivial to re-implement (an assumption), then you should consider the value of what you have above their immediate demands. They might not have to be your "only" customer.

If you are trying to build a business to last on your own, you must ask yourself, is this the kind of customer I want?

Of course, you should consider who the customer is and their mission/vision/values/actions, what your and their goals might be in this instance, how to accommodate their request (like the suggestions for code escrow, etc.) while protecting yourself (surely there are ways through a competent IP lawyer).

Sometimes the big customer can break (or make) your company. I think your course of action depends a lot on what you have and what you want.

That they are interested in you so seriously is probably a good sign, as much as it is something to be concerned about. Consider the value of your use case and what it might be to others as well.

This might be me being naive, but, if they will be good to work with, and a good customer to have, they will be willing to work with you fairly. Otherwise, be cautious and consider the calls for legal advice.

It is so funny to read very decisive answers with no explanation and/or not mentioning if author has any real world experience dealing with this kind of deals and/or machine learning.

And in the ML space we laugh at you and goto the next vendor.

Because we paid for that model, it belongs to us. Just like how if I pay for an illustration I expect the PSDs.