The other day I was pulled into a conversation between two companies which tried to do business with each other. The one side is a very professionally run group of serial entrepreneurs running a startup, the other a well established, somewhat larger company.
Long story short — the established company messed up the deal and left a really bad taste in the mouth of the startup by being hubristic. Which is too bad as it not only means that the deal won’t happen, but also that they pretty much can forget doing business with the startup (and any of the startup’s friends) anymore.
Always remember: Life (and in extension business) is a long-term game. It typically makes no sense to optimize for the short-term. You will always meet twice (at least) in life. And reputation travels fast.