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Businesses are a means to an end. Personally, we are building a company[1] to have an impact. Profit is part of that, since how large of an impact is correlate

by tyre 10y ago

Businesses are a means to an end. Personally, we are building a company[1] to have an impact. Profit is part of that, since how large of an impact is correlated with the number of customers we can serve which requires certain fixed costs (e.g. salaries.) Profits also allow a company to weather market fluctuations and be free of the hype-cycles of investors. The product or service are equally means to an end. Building a CRM for local government isn't a goal in or of itself. We don't win when the code is shipped or even when the customer buys it, only when we affect change on the world. The one thing required to do that is people. And not just anyone is passionate about empowering public servants (which is pefectly fine.) So, in fact, creating a great place to work _is_ one of the few things we build the company around. At the end of the day, it all comes back to human happiness. Not the spurts of dopamine from Candy Crush or Snapchat, but real fulfillment. (Check out our values[2] and employee handbook[3] for how we put that into action.) When I was younger, my dad used to always ask me, "What is your goal in life?" I'd say stupid things like a Ferrari or a big house and he would ask "Why?" Because I wanted to drive fast or have room for toys and video games. "Why?" And so on... All of those "Why"s led to one answer: My goal in life was to be happy. Everything else is a means to that end. That's why a few of the things I listed in the original comment had little to do with product or profit. Build something you're proud of, for no other reason than that you have to live with yourself. Do the right thing. It's harder, but you'll make people, most of all yourself, happy. And if you die in 30, 40, or 2 years having made a bunch of people happy, I think that sounds pretty great. [1]: http://seneca.systems http://seneca.systems [2]: http://seneca.systems/values http://seneca.systems/values [3]: https://Github.com/senecasystems/employee_handbook https://Github.com/senecasystems/employee_handbook [EDIT] - added a story from my childhood

lgieron 10y ago
> Personally, we are building a company[1] to have an impact. Profit is part of that, since how large of an impact is correlated with the number of customers we can serve which requires certain fixed costs (e.g. salaries.) Profits also allow a company to weather market fluctuations and be free of the hype-cycles of investors. You don't need a company - the same goals can be achieved by a non-profit. The main difference between a non-profit and a company is that the company's owners are allowed to pay themselves dividends from the profit. If you don't care about that, you'd probably be better off with a non-profit.
- vonmoltke 10y ago
  There is potentially a shitload of extra paperwork, bookkeeping, and regulation involved in a 501(c) corporation that isn't present in a standard private corporation. Assuming, of course, you can convince the IRS that you fit one of the 501(c) subsections to begin with. Much easier just to run a standard, closely-held corporation or LLC.
- tyre 10y ago
  I looked at non-profits, but sincerely believe for-profit is better for our company. Our goals are aligned with our customers, not whoever gives us money. As a for-profit enterprise, we are truly independent from the whims of outside investors. It also changes the talent pool and partnership opportunities. The non-profits we have met, and there are many in the government space, move at a very different pace than a startup. They can also drift to working on the ideological over the practical. Since software is a quantifiable good, if we cannot sell it than we aren't building something people need, in which case we shouldn't exist. For-profit aligns our survival with our impact.

by tyre 10y ago

lgieron 10y ago

> Personally, we are building a company[1] to have an impact. Profit is part of that, since how large of an impact is correlated with the number of customers we can serve which requires certain fixed costs (e.g. salaries.) Profits also allow a company to weather market fluctuations and be free of the hype-cycles of investors. You don't need a company - the same goals can be achieved by a non-profit. The main difference between a non-profit and a company is that the company's owners are allowed to pay themselves dividends from the profit. If you don't care about that, you'd probably be better off with a non-profit.

vonmoltke 10y ago
There is potentially a shitload of extra paperwork, bookkeeping, and regulation involved in a 501(c) corporation that isn't present in a standard private corporation. Assuming, of course, you can convince the IRS that you fit one of the 501(c) subsections to begin with. Much easier just to run a standard, closely-held corporation or LLC.
tyre 10y ago
I looked at non-profits, but sincerely believe for-profit is better for our company. Our goals are aligned with our customers, not whoever gives us money. As a for-profit enterprise, we are truly independent from the whims of outside investors. It also changes the talent pool and partnership opportunities. The non-profits we have met, and there are many in the government space, move at a very different pace than a startup. They can also drift to working on the ideological over the practical. Since software is a quantifiable good, if we cannot sell it than we aren't building something people need, in which case we shouldn't exist. For-profit aligns our survival with our impact.