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Viaweb had investment. And it wasn't a lifestyle business - there was a terrifying bit in the middle where they weren't profitable. Plus the investors tried to
by shadowsun7 16y ago
Viaweb had investment. And it wasn't a lifestyle business - there was a terrifying bit in the middle where they weren't profitable. Plus the investors tried to screw them over multiple times, right up to the point where they got acquired. You really do need to read up on Viaweb's history.
My counter-argument to your post can be summed up in one question: name me one lifestyle business that is consumer Internet, of sufficient scale so as to make the world a better place.
Almost every startup in the 37signals's Bootstrapped, Profitable & Proud series are in enterprise. Consumer Internet companies (which are what blogs like Techcrunch obsess over) have different rules, different scale.
- gcampbell 16y agoGithub certainly makes my world a far better place, and to my knowledge they haven't taken any VC funding.
- shadowsun7 16y agoGithub is the rare exception. I'm not saying that it's impossible, I'm saying that of the set of startups that have changed the world, it's just ... Github that's a lifestyle business. Every other one has taken funding. What does that say, empirically, about the nature of both models? Note: I'm not arguing one's better than the other, I'm just rebutting OP's belief that 'lifestyle businesses are the way to go for everyone, woohoo!'
- kenferry 16y agoMost mac apps have no investment, and I think they'd count. For example, http://www.panic.com/ http://www.panic.com/, http://www.omnigroup.com/ http://www.omnigroup.com/.