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"Single-founder startups don't get as big, which is a bad thing" Setting aside the question of whether this is true, why is it bad to have a smaller business?

"Single-founder startups don't get as big, which is a bad thing" Setting aside the question of whether this is true, why is it bad to have a smaller business? I can think of several advantages, not the least of which is the luxury of remaining the sole developer. It's weird that you spend the comment telling Colin what he's doing wrong, and then ask him at the end what he wants.

yellow_and_gray 12y ago
I didn't say it's bad to have a smaller business. I said it's bad to have a smaller startup. Because by definition a startup is a company designed to grow. If a business isn't growing then it's not a startup. Between the two extremes of being a Google or a barbershop, it's closer to a barbershop. It also isn't as weird that I wrote that comment considering I alarmingly find myself falling into Colin's shoes as a single founder. If there's a trap laying ahead that I could avoid, I'd rather know about it sooner than later. It's not to disparage Colin that I wrote the comment. It's to learn from him. I like Tarsnap and I'm a Tarsnap customer. If there's a way forward that is unexplored terrain, I at least would like to learn more about it. I wonder how far YC pondered over this question actually. What do you do with the cpercivas? This gutsy, uncompromising quality is a trait of successful founders. I'm curious to see what will happen.
- idlewords 12y ago
  "Because by definition a startup is a company designed to grow" That is not what the word means in common usage. Merriam-Webster: "a fledgling business enterprise" Oxford: "A newly established business" Wikipedia: "A company, partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model" Etc.
  - yellow_and_gray 12y ago
    Paul Graham: "A startup is a company designed to grow" No wonder that's not what the word means in common usage considering startups themselves haven't been common enough to make it into hundred-year old dictionaries.
    - tptacek 12y ago
      Yeah. Stupid old dictionaries. Hey: a good YC application idea! Disrupt them!
    - yellow_and_gray 12y ago
      The biggest thing I learned from this downvoting is that sometimes it's better to only quote new knowledge and let others pick up the conversation from there.

yellow_and_gray 12y ago

I didn't say it's bad to have a smaller business. I said it's bad to have a smaller startup. Because by definition a startup is a company designed to grow. If a business isn't growing then it's not a startup. Between the two extremes of being a Google or a barbershop, it's closer to a barbershop. It also isn't as weird that I wrote that comment considering I alarmingly find myself falling into Colin's shoes as a single founder. If there's a trap laying ahead that I could avoid, I'd rather know about it sooner than later. It's not to disparage Colin that I wrote the comment. It's to learn from him. I like Tarsnap and I'm a Tarsnap customer. If there's a way forward that is unexplored terrain, I at least would like to learn more about it. I wonder how far YC pondered over this question actually. What do you do with the cpercivas? This gutsy, uncompromising quality is a trait of successful founders. I'm curious to see what will happen.

idlewords 12y ago
"Because by definition a startup is a company designed to grow" That is not what the word means in common usage. Merriam-Webster: "a fledgling business enterprise" Oxford: "A newly established business" Wikipedia: "A company, partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model" Etc.
- yellow_and_gray 12y ago
  Paul Graham: "A startup is a company designed to grow" No wonder that's not what the word means in common usage considering startups themselves haven't been common enough to make it into hundred-year old dictionaries.
  - tptacek 12y ago
    Yeah. Stupid old dictionaries. Hey: a good YC application idea! Disrupt them!
  - yellow_and_gray 12y ago
    The biggest thing I learned from this downvoting is that sometimes it's better to only quote new knowledge and let others pick up the conversation from there.