And every one of them is focused on generating cash in their business. The road they’ve chosen is a longer, harder road with a lower chance of success but a muc

And every one of them is focused on generating cash in their business. The road they’ve chosen is a longer, harder road with a lower chance of success but a much higher reward (think Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison) if they succeed. Wait, so generating cash in your business has a lower chance of success than getting acquired? Maybe it's because I'm not on the west coast, but I know at least 20X more people with cashflow-positive companies than people whose companies have been acquired. Or maybe he just means they have a lower chance of becoming as successful as Dell and Gates and Ellison, than others have of being acquired. But he seems to imply that if these people don't generate as much cash as those super-companies, that they've somehow failed. ...which reminds me of the thread on here not long ago on when exactly a startup can be considered successful: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1383566 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1383566