I'm not sure all these analogies are that useful, the concepts are fairly simple after all. If I would to make one though, I would say that running a startup is

I'm not sure all these analogies are that useful, the concepts are fairly simple after all. If I would to make one though, I would say that running a startup is like sailing. You're trying to get somewhere as fast as possible, but the fastest route might not be a straight line. You need a well tuned team that can adapt to changes in the environment quickly. Going fast highly dependent on external factors and fighting the elements will break your team, your boat or both. Of course that's only for running the company. Developing code in startup are more like running a kitchen. You need to get a group of random people to produce a good product under intense pressure. Everyone is responsible for their own area and need to produce good quality in sync with everyone else, but management is ultimately responsible for the quality of the product. But as I said, I'm not sure how useful this is. If people just realize that running a startup or developing a product is mostly like organizing any successful project and not some special thing that you learn solely from blog posts and venture capitalists. PS. Things like the waterfall model is often useful if you're optimizing for getting a specific product out. Startups often struggle to get anything out or establishing themselves in the market, which is why it's useful to do things differently. That doesn't mean startup style projects are suited for every industry which seems to have become a widespread misconception.