As a backer you have entered into a contract directly with the project creator, and if the project creator does not fulfil their part of the agreement, then the backer is in a position to take whatever legal action is required to get their money back.

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It used to be that a startup could only get in the door at a big IT shop with significant connections (like a venture backer who golfs with CIOs every week) or by piggy-backing on a partnership with some other, much larger firm.

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