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Yeah, that's one thing that's always bugged me about startups and VC. There seems to be general agreement that two big problems we're facing in the economy are

Yeah, that's one thing that's always bugged me about startups and VC. There seems to be general agreement that two big problems we're facing in the economy are 1) a slow consolidation of businesses into a handful of mega-corps which span across many markets and 2) an obsession with short-term gains to appease investors and shareholders. Yet the startup world seems to be fixated on "exit strategies" which perpetuate those two problems.

Spivak 5y ago
Because founders and early stock-holding employees want to get paid out, move on to something else, and let someone else handle the long-tail maintenance of the business. This is valuable work in the economy because you want people who are good at starting businesses, proving markets, getting investors, yada yada to be doing that and people who are good at running businesses to do that once it has roots. The intractable problem is that corporations with loads of capital are the ones equipped to run businesses long-term. I would love a world where an exit is turning the business over to the employees and a newly hired CEO in exchange for a payout from the business itself but massive corporations will pay more, have cash on hand, and won't default.
- XMPPwocky 5y ago
  "This is valuable work in the economy because you want [...trimmed...] people who are good at running businesses to do that once it has roots." In my experience, things tend to get dramatically worse for users when a business is acquired or sold, not better. Long-term sustainability also seems to be significantly decreased by acquisitions, not increased- even when the business isn't closed outright (e.g. Pebble). And, from your second paragraph, it seems like you recognize this too. So, yeah, you might want people who are good at running businesses to do that - but selling a business does not seem to put people who are good at running businesses in charge of it. If anything, it's the opposite.

Spivak 5y ago

Because founders and early stock-holding employees want to get paid out, move on to something else, and let someone else handle the long-tail maintenance of the business. This is valuable work in the economy because you want people who are good at starting businesses, proving markets, getting investors, yada yada to be doing that and people who are good at running businesses to do that once it has roots. The intractable problem is that corporations with loads of capital are the ones equipped to run businesses long-term. I would love a world where an exit is turning the business over to the employees and a newly hired CEO in exchange for a payout from the business itself but massive corporations will pay more, have cash on hand, and won't default.

XMPPwocky 5y ago
"This is valuable work in the economy because you want [...trimmed...] people who are good at running businesses to do that once it has roots." In my experience, things tend to get dramatically worse for users when a business is acquired or sold, not better. Long-term sustainability also seems to be significantly decreased by acquisitions, not increased- even when the business isn't closed outright (e.g. Pebble). And, from your second paragraph, it seems like you recognize this too. So, yeah, you might want people who are good at running businesses to do that - but selling a business does not seem to put people who are good at running businesses in charge of it. If anything, it's the opposite.