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I understand what the author is try to do with the headline, but I think it is literally impossible to accidentally start your own business (especially when you

I understand what the author is try to do with the headline, but I think it is literally impossible to accidentally start your own business (especially when you incorporate it). These people saw a problem ("I lost my job and I need money to live off of") and a way to solve it ("I can spend some time making product X and setting up a website to sell it online") and then consciously decided to go ahead with that plan. Successful people aren't successful by accident.

dagw 17y ago
While it is technically impossible to accidentally start a company, it is quite possible to accindentally find oneself in a position where starting a company seems like the best realistic option, which I imagine is what the title was hinting at. Like my girlfriend, within a relatively short time frame she lost her job, got turned town at the last minute for this other job she had been promised and then met a guy who also was thinking about starting a company and who not only shared the same professional interests she did, but had a complementing skill set. All of these where unplanned circumstances which all accumulated in her starting a company.
- profquail 17y ago
  I know what you mean. Someone could invent something for themselves, then make a few more for friends and family that want it, and so one until they have realized a business. Then you might consciously decide to incorporate or otherwise take it to the next level. Still, I don't like how the author made it seem like the people in the article won the lottery or something. They made the decision to make the best of their situation, instead of just stumbling into something new.
msluyter 17y ago
The title is not meant to be taken literally. I believe it's a riff on "The Accidental Tourist," which has spawned lots of titles of the form "The Accidental X," for any case where ending up as X was not the original intent.

dagw 17y ago

While it is technically impossible to accidentally start a company, it is quite possible to accindentally find oneself in a position where starting a company seems like the best realistic option, which I imagine is what the title was hinting at. Like my girlfriend, within a relatively short time frame she lost her job, got turned town at the last minute for this other job she had been promised and then met a guy who also was thinking about starting a company and who not only shared the same professional interests she did, but had a complementing skill set. All of these where unplanned circumstances which all accumulated in her starting a company.

profquail 17y ago
I know what you mean. Someone could invent something for themselves, then make a few more for friends and family that want it, and so one until they have realized a business. Then you might consciously decide to incorporate or otherwise take it to the next level. Still, I don't like how the author made it seem like the people in the article won the lottery or something. They made the decision to make the best of their situation, instead of just stumbling into something new.

msluyter 17y ago

The title is not meant to be taken literally. I believe it's a riff on "The Accidental Tourist," which has spawned lots of titles of the form "The Accidental X," for any case where ending up as X was not the original intent.