"I get the sense that people really do believe that tech startups are actually a different beast, that the basic rules do not apply, and that we really are not

"I get the sense that people really do believe that tech startups are actually a different beast, that the basic rules do not apply, and that we really are not building businesses as the rules just don't apply to tech startups... they are different." I understand your point - revenues should be a concern from day one. If you have neither revenue nor a plan to obtain it in the very short term, you don't really have a plan for your business beyond "get big and hope". However: Traditional brick and mortar businesses don't expect profitability in the first year, and sometimes for as many as the first three years. This is not to say that they have no revenue - only that there isn't an expectation of revenue greater than costs in the short- to medium-term. The notion that a business should be immediately profitable has always been a popular one, but seldom has it been an accurate one.