Why does the founders participating in one of the most persistent pain points treat small companies and independent professionals: late payments.
For most small and independent companies and contractors, the worst part of the job is not work. It is an embarrassing follow -up that is unable to get salaries. I greeted. The customer is happy. However, the bill is drifted into a gray area of ”treatment”, “treatment” or radio silence. Do you pay strongly and risk the relationship? Do you receive them to the groups and ignite them completely? Or are you swallowing the loss and continue?
Founders Iu We believe that there is a better way, a method of dealing Confident As a first class.
From behind IOU
Maximiliaan Van Kuyk And his founder Sauveur Atlan It is not a theory of side lines. They lived the receptionized grinding through startups and consulting roles-and on a large scale, they built products and societies that understand how the reputation moved money and opportunity.
Before IOU, he founded the team members and built the Creator Trade platform OTH NetworkThat link brands and creators influencing the method of re-delivering deals to hospitality and eating-with a deep understanding of social trends and network effects on the real economy. This work – and its impact on the scene of an advanced restaurant – has been classified before ForbesWhich confirms the team’s fluency in conjunction with human behavior to push business results. Forbes
The IOU leadership reflects this bias towards implementation in the real world: a technical founder whose consumer products are shipped, a strategic/marketing leadership of campaigns that regulate great coordination and brand partnerships, and CTO with a practical depth in operational software instructions. They are surrounded by a multi -functional consultant seat, from Meta, Apple and AI products to the previous brand and business development, with experience in launching products that must work in the world of chaos that are not connected to the panels that collide with contracts, payments and reputation. IOU also enjoys early support from some prominent angels and VC Infinity Constellation, whose founder and president founded Invisible techniques, a competitor of artificial intelligence in training artificial intelligence.
Pain point: due money, high patience
Ask any individual owner or professional what keeps them at night, and the late payment of the ground near the summit. Iou’s founders speak frankly about this: In previous companies, they finally stood up The entire departments Just to act as a polite: email, contact, pay, repeat. It is costly. It is frustrating. For many matters below $ 100,000, the legal procedure is simply not rational.
On the other side of the table, buyers are cautious about pre -payment, especially with new sellers. They want to prove reliability, not just a polished proposal. The current situation forces the two sides in the trust gap: Is this person seemingly professional? Will they offer? Do they pay on time?
Why ou: Design a system where compounds are confidence
North IOU star is to create a file Environmental System Financial Confidence This rewards good behavior and reduces the need for confrontation. The team talks about three cranes:
- Social accountability by design. In the same way that reshapes the classifications and reviews Work and payment The result can push people to honor their obligations without escalation to court or public shame.
- Follow -up that never tired. The founders have monitored the respected stability of the money and the vision of automation (including the context supported by AI and the rhythm) as a humanitarian and developed means to maintain momentum without burning relationships.
- Register you can already use. Over time, the history of complete agreements and payments at the specified time must make faster than starting new ties, conditions for re -negotiation, or even opening new forms of lending to people with delicate or unconventional credit files.
Ambition is not the re -invention of contracts, signatures, or bars paid in isolation, however Weave them together With a live reputation layer that reflects how it works in the real world.
“I rarely met anyone who was not owned by money and I do not want to be the person who is chasing him,” says Max. “We want a system where shortening It is to do what you promised because your future work depends on it. “
Why now: The confidence economy is no longer optional
Three Macro’s transformations make IOU timing:
- Artificial intelligence -powered processes move from the back office to the front of the house. The companies expect the workflow that Proactively Move tasks forward. Applied to the payments, smart follow -up and perceived reminder of the context are the difference between “forgotten” and “Tam”.
- Work is more flexible than ever. From local contractors and party sets on the site to creative talents, the difference is now gathered and the project is separated according to the project. Traditional credit files and fixed references fail to this reality. A dynamic degree driven by interacting with workers where they are.
- The reputation resulting from the peer beats the grades from top to bottom for daily trade. Try governments with scoring from top to bottom. Banks depend on models similar to Fico designed for institutional lending. Iou’s founders want a From bottom to top, interaction resistance The result – it was created by the people who have already worked with you.
- The malignant robots everywhere. The Internet is often no human. In 2025, more than a third of the online traffic comes from an activity moved by robots-starting from fake accounts, draining data to fraud and stealing identity. Add Deepfakes and the created files created in artificial intelligence to the mixture, and suddenly, it does not mean a polished email or a lot of smiling profile. In this environment, the only important thing is a recorded record of who has already delivered the work and who already paid it.
Who benefits first
While the vision is wide –Individuals and small companiesNot only companies – early traction predicted by the founders in the work of the local contractor and live/hospitality: agencies, production crews, events sellers, photographers, DJs, and place partners. These are fast -moving ecosystems where reputation travels by text messages and where a handful of late payments can distort the cash flow for a full month.
Short conversation with IOU Founder, Maximiliaan Van Kuyk
For someone who has not heard about IOU, what is the big idea?
Maximiliaan Van Kuyk: Think of the connective tissue between a signature agreement, the flow of funds associated with it, and a reliable date of how both parties are spent. We are not trying to spread the specifications of the product before the launch, but from top to bottom, imagine whether the anti -signing, payment, and Social accountability Everyone lived together, even good behavior compounds.
What is the only pain point that made you build this?
Van Quick: Country accounts. In a previous company, we literally built a follow -up section – with respect and perseverance – on money we were debtors. For smaller companies, you usually do not have the leverage or delicious leverage to legalize a matter of $ 10,000 or $ 30,000. And you do not want to ignite a relationship. We asked, “What if the follow -up could not be tirelessly, context, and neutral… and what if everyone knew that their future work depends on their busy record? “
Who do you see that he benefits more than others early?
Van Quick: Local contractors and the ecosystem of entertainment/hospitality. Agencies, artists, crews, events sellers – independent professionals who do a great job and only want to pay immediately. Over time, the benefits of workers as well. In a world in which artificial intelligence can generate reasonable profiles, the ability to say, “Here are the people I worked with, and here they say,” Things.
Why do business owners and independent smell must Confident Ayo?
Van Quick: Since it gives them benefit on the first day-Cleaner agreements, professional follow-up-and a batch they can build on. There is a baked social accountability. You do not scream in a vacuum; The regime itself encourages everyone to do what they promised.
The edge of the founders: social fluency + pragmatism of the product
Many tools are considered to “simplify” contracts or payments. What IOU supporters buy Learn the pattern of the founders. They have seen closely how Social guide It moves in dollars in hospitality, eating food, creators and branded events. You have also struggled with unfamiliar glue for follow -up, reconciliation and extensions. This rare combination of Cultural fluency and Discipline operations For this reason, investors listen.
“If two teams put the same idea,” one of the observers in the industry notes, “I have supported those who have already turned social dynamics into business mechanics.”
The result that opens the doors
Reducing, the reputation promise becomes greater than getting one invoice.
- Less frictions to start. If your iOS history displays a hundred complete connections and a semi -perfect record on time, then you are negotiating strength; Payment conditions are shorter, better prices, faster approvals.
- The healthiest ecosystems. When everyone can see how everyone behaves, the worst actors either adapt or lose access. Societies are increased due to Confidence at a price.
What do you see next?
The launch of IOU will show features. But the standards that concern them are vanity records. watch Complete agreementsand Payment rates on timeAnd The extent of the speed of finding new users reliable parties. Iu Be Confidence infrastructure.
Until then, the bet is simple: in a world that overflows with tools, The difference that understands people Win. IOU founders are built accordingly.
Learn more about IOU’s vision to build confidence in the modern economy here.
