"When you order from Vermont Brownie Company (or Amazon.com, for that matter), you give your credit card. New economy companies DO depend on the fact that people have credit or debit cards. When the founders of Vermont Brownie Company go their company kitchen to make brownies, they’re not guessing what the demand is and building an inventory that has to be financed. They already know how many orders they’ve got and for what varieties; they know what fresh ingredients they need (so can buy fresh); they know how much to bake of each (so can ship fresh); and they don’t need to finance their receivables: you already paid."
— Tom Evslin: Maybe We Don’t Need So Much Credit (via rafer)
