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The thing is - you can't by any means start building a billion dollar business just by deciding to do so. Take google - attempted to sell at 100 mln Take face

by alexro 11y ago

The thing is - you can't by any means start building a billion dollar business just by deciding to do so. Take google - attempted to sell at 100 mln Take facebook - was in-college network Take airbnb - struggled along for many years What this article is trying to convey?

ericcholis 11y ago
I think your point is exactly what the article is trying to convey. Start by building a great product, not with a target exit dollar figure.
- alexro 11y ago
  This is 2015. Noone goes and say they gonna sell dog food to every person on the planet? Obvious.
arielm 11y ago
I believe it's trying to point out the currently flawed mindset of the valley. The same mindset that would fail to build any of the businesses that you listed above ;)
- alexro 11y ago
  But then it lists the VC who don't think so... Puzzled
  - matthewmacleod 11y ago
    It's quite clear that there's a general perception that bigger is better. The fact that some VCs are investing in smaller businesses doesn't negate that.
m12k 11y ago
Maybe you can't just decide to make a billion dollar business, but certain choices may decide whether that's what you're trying to do. The main thing is VC funding and hiring. If you are in a situation where you could get a big cash injection from a VC, at the cost of a reduction of control, you are considering whether to buy rocket fuel - if you do, you either hit the moon or explode while trying. And even before such a situation, the metrics that you choose to focus on will also reflect which strategy you are employing, e.g. are you focusing on total number of active users (think Twitter), or number of paying users (think Slack). Are you thinking growth, monetization or both? Are you spending money on advertising or do you wait to let word of mouth spread your product at whatever pace it can? And if you do spend money on advertising, do you pay more or less for acquiring a new user than that user's LTV is likely to be (hint: if you pay more, you're running a "get big fast" business).
- alexro 11y ago
  But you can fall into the same trap trying to build a 50 mln business? This is merely a difference between going on a natural growth vs speeding up with investor money, it's irrelevant to the company size unless you're tiny? The article doesn't hint how to decide when not to fuse capital in, other than discriminating by the projected growth.

by alexro 11y ago

ericcholis 11y ago

I think your point is exactly what the article is trying to convey. Start by building a great product, not with a target exit dollar figure.

alexro 11y ago
This is 2015. Noone goes and say they gonna sell dog food to every person on the planet? Obvious.

arielm 11y ago

I believe it's trying to point out the currently flawed mindset of the valley. The same mindset that would fail to build any of the businesses that you listed above ;)

alexro 11y ago
But then it lists the VC who don't think so... Puzzled
- matthewmacleod 11y ago
  It's quite clear that there's a general perception that bigger is better. The fact that some VCs are investing in smaller businesses doesn't negate that.

m12k 11y ago

Maybe you can't just decide to make a billion dollar business, but certain choices may decide whether that's what you're trying to do. The main thing is VC funding and hiring. If you are in a situation where you could get a big cash injection from a VC, at the cost of a reduction of control, you are considering whether to buy rocket fuel - if you do, you either hit the moon or explode while trying. And even before such a situation, the metrics that you choose to focus on will also reflect which strategy you are employing, e.g. are you focusing on total number of active users (think Twitter), or number of paying users (think Slack). Are you thinking growth, monetization or both? Are you spending money on advertising or do you wait to let word of mouth spread your product at whatever pace it can? And if you do spend money on advertising, do you pay more or less for acquiring a new user than that user's LTV is likely to be (hint: if you pay more, you're running a "get big fast" business).

alexro 11y ago
But you can fall into the same trap trying to build a 50 mln business? This is merely a difference between going on a natural growth vs speeding up with investor money, it's irrelevant to the company size unless you're tiny? The article doesn't hint how to decide when not to fuse capital in, other than discriminating by the projected growth.