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Now compare the longevity and sustainability of this software product to VC-funded startups, which are more like blips on the radar before they disappear by goi

by jwr 2y ago

Now compare the longevity and sustainability of this software product to VC-funded startups, which are more like blips on the radar before they disappear by going bankrupt or getting acquired. Having multiple people in a company does not guarantee that it will stick around. People saying "but it's a one-person business, I can't trust it in the long term" are wrong.

louthy 2y ago
> People saying “but it's a one-person business, I can't trust it in the long term" are wrong. The problem is: people aren’t immortal. That one person could be dead tomorrow. So, you can’t trust any one person business in the long term, by definition.
- jwr 2y ago
  I have business continuity plans. And my point still stands: in practice, within a 5-year time horizon, you are much more likely to see a VC-funded or corporate-owned service shut down, than see a sustainable single-founder business disappear.
- xp84 2y ago
  Depends on what level of trust you need to have. Obviously you can’t even trust a multibillion-dollar public company like Google to keep maintaining a product forever, or even for a couple years. On the other hand, someone selling a stable piece of desktop software doesn’t even require a tremendous amount of trust. Just the trust not to ship malware or massive security holes. Even if they fully retire and delete the source code, your software will keep working. That’s more than I can say for Google reader, or the Humane AI Pin.
- cfn 2y ago
  When he dies, if not before, he or his family can sell the business. There's even websites/communities where you can post this kind of business for sale.
  - chgs 2y ago
    The software will still work for years even if his who family is wiped out in a plane crash. A saas product will die when the credit card bounces a couple of months later.
    - hermitcrab 2y ago
      >even if his who[le] family is wiped out in a plane crash. Thanks for that cheery thought.
- tonyedgecombe 2y ago
  At age 59 there is a 5% chance he will die in the next year. What's the chance that your enterprise SaaS is going to get canned in that period?
  - slyall 2y ago
    Actually less than 1.5% chance of dying (at least for American men, Brits would be similar). https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html
fuzztester 2y ago
y see: our incredible journey side note: after I typed "our incredible j", and then in this very text box, mind you, not even in Google, the full word "journey" popped up as a choice for me to select. shows ...
- fuzztester 2y ago
  here you go, downvoter dude (we can guess you're from one of the types described below, or aspire to be, meaning the startups that gets acqui-hired, and dumps their users ): https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2013/02/27/our-incredible-journey/ https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2013/02/27/our-incredibl... https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/89180616013/what-is-an-incredible-journey https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/89180616013/wha... https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/about/ https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/about/
  - raziel2p 2y ago
    nah I just don't like your writing style.
keepamovin 2y ago
It's all just mindgames bullshit to get you to accept worse terms, or ignorance. Your characterization is right. VC boosted products are sometimes like shit crops sewn in bad soil but laden with chemical fertilizer to force growth. They might have no fundamental strength.

by jwr 2y ago

louthy 2y ago

> People saying “but it's a one-person business, I can't trust it in the long term" are wrong. The problem is: people aren’t immortal. That one person could be dead tomorrow. So, you can’t trust any one person business in the long term, by definition.

jwr 2y ago
I have business continuity plans. And my point still stands: in practice, within a 5-year time horizon, you are much more likely to see a VC-funded or corporate-owned service shut down, than see a sustainable single-founder business disappear.
xp84 2y ago
Depends on what level of trust you need to have. Obviously you can’t even trust a multibillion-dollar public company like Google to keep maintaining a product forever, or even for a couple years. On the other hand, someone selling a stable piece of desktop software doesn’t even require a tremendous amount of trust. Just the trust not to ship malware or massive security holes. Even if they fully retire and delete the source code, your software will keep working. That’s more than I can say for Google reader, or the Humane AI Pin.
cfn 2y ago
When he dies, if not before, he or his family can sell the business. There's even websites/communities where you can post this kind of business for sale.
- chgs 2y ago
  The software will still work for years even if his who family is wiped out in a plane crash. A saas product will die when the credit card bounces a couple of months later.
  - hermitcrab 2y ago
    >even if his who[le] family is wiped out in a plane crash. Thanks for that cheery thought.
tonyedgecombe 2y ago
At age 59 there is a 5% chance he will die in the next year. What's the chance that your enterprise SaaS is going to get canned in that period?
- slyall 2y ago
  Actually less than 1.5% chance of dying (at least for American men, Brits would be similar). https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

fuzztester 2y ago

y see: our incredible journey side note: after I typed "our incredible j", and then in this very text box, mind you, not even in Google, the full word "journey" popped up as a choice for me to select. shows ...

fuzztester 2y ago
here you go, downvoter dude (we can guess you're from one of the types described below, or aspire to be, meaning the startups that gets acqui-hired, and dumps their users ): https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2013/02/27/our-incredible-journey/ https://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2013/02/27/our-incredibl... https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/89180616013/what-is-an-incredible-journey https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/post/89180616013/wha... https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/about/ https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/about/
- raziel2p 2y ago
  nah I just don't like your writing style.

keepamovin 2y ago

It's all just mindgames bullshit to get you to accept worse terms, or ignorance. Your characterization is right. VC boosted products are sometimes like shit crops sewn in bad soil but laden with chemical fertilizer to force growth. They might have no fundamental strength.