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I hate the phrase "lifestyle business." Look: it's a business. No, it's not going to make VCs billionaires. But it's a perfectly respectable business nonetheles

by wyclif 7y ago

I hate the phrase "lifestyle business." Look: it's a business. No, it's not going to make VCs billionaires. But it's a perfectly respectable business nonetheless. Nothing wrong with that.

rokhayakebe 7y ago
Do not worry. There is only a tiny group of people who know the meaning of the term.
bananamerica 7y ago
So I went to Wikipedia and found this definition: "A lifestyle business is a business set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle." Seems like a useful concept. What's wrong with it?
- zerkten 7y ago
  It's a useful concept when used appropriately. There is nuance that you are missing. When used it's a description that the business owners provide based on how they run their business, then it's OK. When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur (unless they've previously shared this with you and you know that fact.) Many smaller companies are not actually lifestyle businesses although that term is thrown around here. The owners may be part-time because they actually operate a group of companies, grow niche companies to sell outside of the VC world, etc. They are indistinguishable from lifestyle businesses, but the owners are looking to do a lot more than sustain a level of income.
  - bananamerica 7y ago
    > When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur I see. I find it a bit unsettling that in some cultures stating that a business has priorities other than profit at all costs is considered a slur.
    - zerkten 7y ago
      I'm not sure it's specific to a limited set of cultures. I think there would be fairly broad cultural support for it being considered diminutive. Besides, the core of the problem is that it's only valid when that business owner describes itself as a lifestyle business.
      - bananamerica 7y ago
        I can say that, while competition is part of every capitalist society, at least in my region of Brazil the search for work-life balance is something few entrepreneurs would be ashamed of.
      - kraigie 7y ago
        The German Mittelstand is a more positive version of this. It is literally "Middle Class" They want to stop at the 'M' part in SME.
    - wyclif 7y ago
      You nailed it. It can be either a neutral term or a slur depending on the context, as the above comment says. But I dislike it mostly for the reason you mentioned. It implies that the only really alpha, desirable businesses are those that make a bajillion dollars for VCs and don't have much benefit to customers or the general public.
      - bananamerica 7y ago
        Yeah, that is awful. And it's a shame that such a useful concept got a negative connotation.
    - vonmoltke 7y ago
      If you are using "lifestyle business" to mean "a business has priorities other than profit at all costs", you are using it incorrectly. A lifestyle business is one where the owners have set a target business size and profit level, and do not try to grow past this; some owners even actively inhibit growth to keep the business from getting too large. The purpose of the business is to give its owners a fixed cash flow. A company whose owners are working to grow the business consistently and organically is not a lifestyle business; it is also not pursuing "profit at all costs". Most privately-held businesses fall into this category. As to "lifestyle business" being a slur, it is unfortunate that members of the growth-obsessed communities use it as such. They don't see a business with a fixed target size as serious. Incidentally, many also think the same about the organic growth case I mentioned. I ignore them, and most other things from VC startup culture.
- Fomite 7y ago
  It's often set up as a binary. Either you are a VC backed "big play" or you're a lifestyle business. Which lumps a business that employs 140 people in several states and makes a few hundred thousand in profit every year with a bookstore with a cat that barely breaks even, and is closed every Wednesday so the owner can go skiing.
- austhrow743 7y ago
  That's a fantastic description of the business model a guy I know runs his plane tours under. He likes flying. He doesn't earn enough to justify flying just himself around in circles every weekend. So what he does is take people up with him on scenic tours. No real room to grow. He's not competitive if he tries to start scaling and actually completely cover pilots, planes, and the advertising required to keep them busy. But he keeps his hobby mostly cost neutral through word of mouth. What it is not is a good term for any business that doesn't take VC. There are many businesses where the primary objective is to grow and make lots of money but where VC doesn't make sense. It's probably most businesses. So when someone calls a business a lifestyle business simply on the basis that the market isn't big enough to warrant VC, it's insulting to a large swath of business owners and generally a case of unwarranted elitism. Like if Zuckerberg was looking at businesses earning tens or hundreds of millions a year and went "how cute, lifestylers" it'd be shitty but at least he'd have the success to back it up. Mostly on here you see it from people just leaching off the success of their industry. They earn hundreds of thousands but use their position in tech to look down on people pulling in millions.
  - andreilys 7y ago
    Someone making tens or hundred of millions of dollars a year is far beyond the definition of a lifestyle business. At that point you will have achieved significant scale and all the headaches that come with it. Getting back to the above post, a budgeting tool is a lifestyle business. It will likely never grow to 100m+ revenue or 200+ employees. It can however make for a great lifestyle business that generates enough money to cover living costs with minimal investment from the owners (after initial investment of building the business).
    - kraigie 7y ago
      What if their lifestyle costs tens of millions? This just proves how stupid the label is.
avarun 7y ago
It's a positive term....
- wyclif 7y ago
  Sometimes. Depending on the context. But usually in SV VC circles it's a dismissive term.
  - nordsieck 7y ago
    > But usually in SV VC circles it's a dismissive term. Sure. But that's always going to be true because VCs don't invest in lifestyle business.
exolymph 7y ago
You pretty transparently have a chip on your shoulder about this. "Lifestyle business" is not a pejorative. It can be, but it generally isn't.
- wyclif 7y ago
  Actually, I don't at all. A lot of people in tech agree with me on this. See thread.

by wyclif 7y ago

I hate the phrase "lifestyle business." Look: it's a business. No, it's not going to make VCs billionaires. But it's a perfectly respectable business nonetheless. Nothing wrong with that.

rokhayakebe 7y ago

Do not worry. There is only a tiny group of people who know the meaning of the term.

bananamerica 7y ago

So I went to Wikipedia and found this definition: "A lifestyle business is a business set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle." Seems like a useful concept. What's wrong with it?

zerkten 7y ago
It's a useful concept when used appropriately. There is nuance that you are missing. When used it's a description that the business owners provide based on how they run their business, then it's OK. When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur (unless they've previously shared this with you and you know that fact.) Many smaller companies are not actually lifestyle businesses although that term is thrown around here. The owners may be part-time because they actually operate a group of companies, grow niche companies to sell outside of the VC world, etc. They are indistinguishable from lifestyle businesses, but the owners are looking to do a lot more than sustain a level of income.
- bananamerica 7y ago
  > When you use it to describe someone else's business it's often considered a slur I see. I find it a bit unsettling that in some cultures stating that a business has priorities other than profit at all costs is considered a slur.
  - zerkten 7y ago
    I'm not sure it's specific to a limited set of cultures. I think there would be fairly broad cultural support for it being considered diminutive. Besides, the core of the problem is that it's only valid when that business owner describes itself as a lifestyle business.
    - bananamerica 7y ago
      I can say that, while competition is part of every capitalist society, at least in my region of Brazil the search for work-life balance is something few entrepreneurs would be ashamed of.
    - kraigie 7y ago
      The German Mittelstand is a more positive version of this. It is literally "Middle Class" They want to stop at the 'M' part in SME.
  - wyclif 7y ago
    You nailed it. It can be either a neutral term or a slur depending on the context, as the above comment says. But I dislike it mostly for the reason you mentioned. It implies that the only really alpha, desirable businesses are those that make a bajillion dollars for VCs and don't have much benefit to customers or the general public.
    - bananamerica 7y ago
      Yeah, that is awful. And it's a shame that such a useful concept got a negative connotation.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    If you are using "lifestyle business" to mean "a business has priorities other than profit at all costs", you are using it incorrectly. A lifestyle business is one where the owners have set a target business size and profit level, and do not try to grow past this; some owners even actively inhibit growth to keep the business from getting too large. The purpose of the business is to give its owners a fixed cash flow. A company whose owners are working to grow the business consistently and organically is not a lifestyle business; it is also not pursuing "profit at all costs". Most privately-held businesses fall into this category. As to "lifestyle business" being a slur, it is unfortunate that members of the growth-obsessed communities use it as such. They don't see a business with a fixed target size as serious. Incidentally, many also think the same about the organic growth case I mentioned. I ignore them, and most other things from VC startup culture.
Fomite 7y ago
It's often set up as a binary. Either you are a VC backed "big play" or you're a lifestyle business. Which lumps a business that employs 140 people in several states and makes a few hundred thousand in profit every year with a bookstore with a cat that barely breaks even, and is closed every Wednesday so the owner can go skiing.
austhrow743 7y ago
That's a fantastic description of the business model a guy I know runs his plane tours under. He likes flying. He doesn't earn enough to justify flying just himself around in circles every weekend. So what he does is take people up with him on scenic tours. No real room to grow. He's not competitive if he tries to start scaling and actually completely cover pilots, planes, and the advertising required to keep them busy. But he keeps his hobby mostly cost neutral through word of mouth. What it is not is a good term for any business that doesn't take VC. There are many businesses where the primary objective is to grow and make lots of money but where VC doesn't make sense. It's probably most businesses. So when someone calls a business a lifestyle business simply on the basis that the market isn't big enough to warrant VC, it's insulting to a large swath of business owners and generally a case of unwarranted elitism. Like if Zuckerberg was looking at businesses earning tens or hundreds of millions a year and went "how cute, lifestylers" it'd be shitty but at least he'd have the success to back it up. Mostly on here you see it from people just leaching off the success of their industry. They earn hundreds of thousands but use their position in tech to look down on people pulling in millions.
- andreilys 7y ago
  Someone making tens or hundred of millions of dollars a year is far beyond the definition of a lifestyle business. At that point you will have achieved significant scale and all the headaches that come with it. Getting back to the above post, a budgeting tool is a lifestyle business. It will likely never grow to 100m+ revenue or 200+ employees. It can however make for a great lifestyle business that generates enough money to cover living costs with minimal investment from the owners (after initial investment of building the business).
  - kraigie 7y ago
    What if their lifestyle costs tens of millions? This just proves how stupid the label is.

avarun 7y ago

It's a positive term....

wyclif 7y ago
Sometimes. Depending on the context. But usually in SV VC circles it's a dismissive term.
- nordsieck 7y ago
  > But usually in SV VC circles it's a dismissive term. Sure. But that's always going to be true because VCs don't invest in lifestyle business.

exolymph 7y ago

You pretty transparently have a chip on your shoulder about this. "Lifestyle business" is not a pejorative. It can be, but it generally isn't.

wyclif 7y ago
Actually, I don't at all. A lot of people in tech agree with me on this. See thread.