[outop]

> Freelancing is a flawed model because there will always be a power imbalance.

It seems like you chose to work all night on this project for several months after the client missed a payment deadline.

Freelancing is a flawed model for you because you chose to let a company walk all over you.

Freelancing isn't a flawed model in general, except that people like you ruin it for everyone else by letting companies think they can get away with stuff like this.

[valhalladev]

Ah yes, I ruin it for everyone by "letting" a company with significantly more financial means "get away with" breaching contract.

Again, I acknowledged the mistakes I made in this blog, and ironically you are literally the commenter I tried to head off in my own comment on this post, but if you're choosing to blame the power imbalance on me, that's your choice and I'm fine with it.

Putting your foot down and demanding payment _does not fix the power imbalance_ by the way. Because if they continue to choose to not pay for the hours you've worked, you still have to pursue them legally. You can mitigate risk by demanding payment up front, stopping work, etc. (again, as I noted in the blog) but it does not at all mitigate the imbalance in power dynamics between a solo freelancer and a larger company.

[outop]

What do you think happens when regular employees don't get paid by their employer (who also has more money and more resources than them)?

[valhalladev]

At least in the United States, the government has the ability to and a history of stepping in for the employee to ensure they are reimbursed, and court cases _very frequently_ side with the employee.

You have significantly more protection as a full-time employee compared to freelancing.

[outop]

Long before the govt steps in, people will have stopped working hundreds of hours a month for an organization that hasn't paid them.

[valhalladev]

... I don't think I'm seeing the point you're trying to make.

I'm saying that there is a massive power imbalance in freelancing that is not at all the same as the power imbalance with working a 9-to-5