10 ms·

Why is it a euphemism? Delaying profits as a primary objective has been a common startup strategy for decades.

• myth2018 4y ago
  Delaying profits is a perfectly valid strategy, but that implies intent. I guess however most of these modern startups are having no profits because they aren't managing to make them, and not as part of a bigger strategy.
  • ethbr0 4y ago
    Exactly. Delaying profits means having a knob in your cash allocation (usually sales) that you can turn down and become profitable. If you turn it down and still can't fund the company... you weren't delaying profits.
    • peripitea 4y ago
      Pre-profit doesn't just refer to your cash-allocation-adjustment scenario. There's also the broader notion of what you focus on. A company may be pre-profit because they're not prioritizing profitability as a strategic objective early on. They may have no (current) way of turning a dial and becoming profitable, yet still be making the correct strategic decision to ignore profitability for the sake of e.g. growth or product development. Countless now-gigantic, now-profitable companies started as startups who were intentionally (and correctly) focusing on strategic objectives other than profitability.
• mdoms 4y ago