I agree to a certain extent Sagewing, however it’s worth pointing out that unless your building a generic design using a vanilla CMS solution (which I guess is an option for large businesses) it makes better sense in the clients best interests to have the content before starting the design and development work. I always design websites based around the needs of the content and therefore the usability and fluidity of the information will be increased substantially (as will the semantic value of the code), building a website without the content you need is like building a house without blueprints… if there’s no content there’s no foundation to lay down the HTML (thereby marking up the content correctly), there’s no ability to decide how the site needs to be best designed and laid out to put forward that content (thereby resulting in a less than perfect design) and it’s almost as bad as using Lipsum text. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind getting content progressively as I need it but I certainly wouldn’t want to endanger the effectiveness of the website on the basis that the materials I require weren’t provided 
You cannot equate what is best for the website with what is in the clients best interest. What if they are late because the website is their lowest priority?
Lots of houses are built with poor blueprints, and changes are made midstream. This happens every day, literally. Of course it’s better for the homeowner to have it perfectly planned before building - they save time and money. But, lots of clients aren’t sure how they want the deck made and how to setup the kitchen, etc. when they start to build. Ask a builder about this problem - it’s much more prominent in public sector/institutional building than in residential, actually.
The builder who resist, but are flexible, to customer changes are the ones who do best. They are good at protecting their bottom lines.
I’m not saying that it’s not best to get all the content first. I’m just saying that these kinds of absolute statements just don’t really work in the real world sometimes.
Thanx all for ur valuable suggestions and advice.
I’m also facing the same situation. And was trying to solve the problem.
Now after reading this whole thread, I’m feeling much lighter…
Point taken, Sagewing. Thanks!