[jabbany]

I don't think that the OP is arguing for "always" sticking to entrenched players, but rather for people to face the reality that the agility of startups come with drawbacks in their service (even though it's often not apparent).

It all comes down to making informed decisions. If you're just using RH for "playing around" with some surplus money, this lack of liquidity shouldn't be as important for you (as compared to, e.g., the ease of use, or low fees...). However, if you're using RH in a "serious" capacity, this (reliability) should definitely be something to seriously consider, since you may not have the guarantees that you can take for granted with traditional players.

The true problem with the RH situation is the lack of transparency throughout. It really does no good (and comes off as very "slimy") if third parties have to expose their business model or why they're having issues. A little transparency would have gone a long way for people to be sympathetic to the startup. But then again, I guess that harms the "magic" factor of a startup.