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What's the point of being a startup not looking at being a unicorn? I genuinely do not understand how somebody can cap off their ambitions like so.
by zavi 8y ago
What's the point of being a startup not looking at being a unicorn? I genuinely do not understand how somebody can cap off their ambitions like so.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoWorking for yourself. You only need so much money to be happy. And statistically speaking, you’re not going to be a unicorn. You’re more likely to fail entirely. But if you make a nice business out of it that you can go to each day and be happy, you enjoy the work, and have your bills paid comfortably, that’s enough for a lot of people. Hustle and grind in moderation.
- jonathankoren 8y agoNot everything is a billion dollar company
- ummonk 8y agoSometimes building a solid successful business is preferable to playing the lottery and shooting for the moon.
- debaserab2 8y agoBecause not everything is dollars and cents in the end to everyone? Some people value the autonomy a small business gives you along with the work life balance.
- _puk 8y agoYou don't take VC money if you want to build a lifestyle business.
- debaserab2 8y agoNot prioritizing growth at all costs != lifestyle business Nor does not taking VC money mean you're a lifestyle business
- techslave 8y agoyou’re responding to the converse of GP’s statement, which yes, is not true. but he said none of those things. you have projected a false dichotomy which wasn’t proposed.
- debaserab2 8y agoUh, okay. So in what way was GP responding to my post then?
- godzillabrennus 8y agoEntrepreneurs are more likely to do better on an early exit than to try and build a unicorn. Less dilution and lower probability of failure.
- freddie_mercury 8y agoSome friends created a startup a few years ago. It is now profitable and never took VC. The two founders pull down $1,000,000 a year and they give staff $50,000+ annual bonuses from profit sharing. They also work four day weeks and spent every night and weekend with their kids. What's the upside of trying to make it into a unicorn?
- mv4 8y agowhat type of business/service, if you don't mind sharing? I've always found "no VC" stories incredibly inspiring.
- pm90 8y ago"no VC" is the majority of businesses in the US (and possibly the world)
- freddie_mercury 8y agoThey worked in a field for 10+ years, understood the underserved needs of customers in that field, and built a product that addressed those underserved needs for customers.
- consz 8y agoI think it's sometimes hard to understand how quickly marginal utility of money decreases. As someone who makes high seven figures, I have genuinely no idea how more money could possibly affect my happiness -- there's just no appreciable difference between making 5m and 500m to me.
- techslave 8y agosounds like you have a distinct lack of imagination. interesting that you could reach 7 figures with that mindset. every power of 10 TC is another level of liberating. At 7 figures you can still go broke. that isn’t fuck you money. you can’t buy houses around the world (and staff them) in a whim. you can’t go to davos and mingle with the true global power brokers. you can affect social change but only on a small perhaps local scale. at 500m you can put the people YOU want into government to affect the change you want.
- consz 8y ago>you can’t buy houses around the world (and staff them) in a whim. you can’t go to davos and mingle with the true global power brokers. you can affect social change but only on a small perhaps local scale. I can't imagine any of these things increasing my happiness (or even be particularly interesting to me).