$15 Trillion Locked in Client Invoices — Get Paid Faster

What if the advice you’ve spent years giving founders about fundraising and scaling is wrong? On this episode of Predictable B2B Success, Julia Delin, a former venture capitalist, incubator leader at Stockholm School of Economics, and now CEO and co-founder of Cheque, reveals how stepping onto the founder’s side changed her perspective on growth, cash flow, and what it takes to survive as a startup.

Discover why $15 trillion is stuck in US accounts payable even in healthy companies and how delayed payments nearly killed thriving firms. You’ll hear the real story behind Cheque’s “aha” moment, the key missteps founders make by treating cash flow as an afterthought, and what changes when you see it as a growth lever, not just an accounting problem.

Julia Delin also unpacks the dangerous gap between investor expectations and startup realities, the “three-to-one” rule that should guide every VC raise, and why most founders wait too long to admit their biggest obstacle isn’t product or sales but simply getting paid. Whether you’re rethinking your approach to funding or wondering how to avoid being your client’s bank, this episode will shift how you see money, risk, and opportunity in B2B.

Some topics we cover in this episode include:

• Cash Flow Issues in Service Businesses: Long payment terms, delayed payments, and the impact on healthy companies
• "Acting as a Bank" for Clients: Frustration over essentially loaning money to clients due to slow payments
• Dynamic Discounting & Early Payment Discounts: How early payment incentives work and why adoption by SMBs has been slow
• From VC to Founder: Lessons Learned: Contrasting generalized investor advice with founder reality
• Angel Funding vs Venture Capital: Reasons for choosing angel funding and its implications for growth
• Founders’ Relationships with Investors: Leverage, empathy, and differences between angels and VCs
• Cash Flow as a Growth Lever: Viewing cash flow management as a strategic choice, not just accounting
• Market Education & Product Adoption: Teaching SMBs new behaviors and evolving the company’s pitch
• US vs Europe: Cultural and Market Differences: The effect of optimism, directness, and openness on business-building
• Advice for Founders on Cash & Fundraising: Challenging common wisdom on MVP pricing, milestones, and proof points