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> It's surprising to me that no one starts a company solely for creating an amazing place to work. They do, they're called lifestyle businesses and tons of peo

> It's surprising to me that no one starts a company solely for creating an amazing place to work. They do, they're called lifestyle businesses and tons of people do them. You simply don't hear about them because the valley (thus VC money) is generally about Unicorns, not regular businesses.

rhizome 10y ago
They're also called names like, "Smuckers." http://www.marcgunther.com/sustainable-smuckers-its-all-in-the-family/ http://www.marcgunther.com/sustainable-smuckers-its-all-in-t... I bet there are a lot of amazing or pretty darn good places to work in whatever that 37 Signals thing is that interviews companies who have been in business for a long time. Found it: https://thedistance.com/ https://thedistance.com/
DarkTree 10y ago
Oh yeah you're right. I definitely hear about lifestyle business all of the time, but I was always under the impression that they were trying to sell you a lifestyle instead of a product/service. I didn't know they were actually trying to create the lifestyle for themselves.
- saluki 10y ago
  On that note I have to post one of my favorite talks. @DHH Startup School 2008 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY Still inspiring, still relevant eight years later.
  - VelNZ 10y ago
    Thanks so much for this, as someone making just "a nice italian website in the web space", it's comforting to hear this rarely heard logical approach.
- zeemonkee3 10y ago
  They're not trying to create a lifestyle, they're just running a small to medium sized regular business. "Lifestyle business" is just an idiotic Valley term.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    In all fairness, there are small companies where people get a lot of time off and other forms of flexibility. However, I don't really disagree in general. A lot of the time "lifestyle business" seems to just be code for a smallish business that doesn't really pay up to market rates or otherwise provide competitive financial compensation.

rhizome 10y ago

They're also called names like, "Smuckers." http://www.marcgunther.com/sustainable-smuckers-its-all-in-the-family/ http://www.marcgunther.com/sustainable-smuckers-its-all-in-t... I bet there are a lot of amazing or pretty darn good places to work in whatever that 37 Signals thing is that interviews companies who have been in business for a long time. Found it: https://thedistance.com/ https://thedistance.com/

DarkTree 10y ago

Oh yeah you're right. I definitely hear about lifestyle business all of the time, but I was always under the impression that they were trying to sell you a lifestyle instead of a product/service. I didn't know they were actually trying to create the lifestyle for themselves.

saluki 10y ago
On that note I have to post one of my favorite talks. @DHH Startup School 2008 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY Still inspiring, still relevant eight years later.
- VelNZ 10y ago
  Thanks so much for this, as someone making just "a nice italian website in the web space", it's comforting to hear this rarely heard logical approach.
zeemonkee3 10y ago
They're not trying to create a lifestyle, they're just running a small to medium sized regular business. "Lifestyle business" is just an idiotic Valley term.
- ghaff 10y ago
  In all fairness, there are small companies where people get a lot of time off and other forms of flexibility. However, I don't really disagree in general. A lot of the time "lifestyle business" seems to just be code for a smallish business that doesn't really pay up to market rates or otherwise provide competitive financial compensation.