Startups vs. Businesses

I was at lunch this weekend with a couple of friends, and we got to talking about the startup ecosystem. It really hit me just how narrative driven that whole world can be. As I was sitting there, I started thinking a lot about the things I’ve built in the past and what I actually want to be building going forward.

I think there is this really interesting distinction that most people who work in software don’t quite grasp. There is a sharp difference between a “startup” and just a “business.”

The Startup Delusion

A startup is a business, sure, but it’s a very specific breed. It’s designed to grow extremely fast and capture a massive market. Because of that, these things are super risky. They’re driven mostly by hype and narratives, especially at the very beginning. To be honest, they’re very, very difficult.

When you’re launching a startup, you almost have to be delusionally insane. You have to believe you can capture such a significant part of a market that the risk becomes worth it for the investors, the employees, and yourself. I’ve done a few of these now. In the shortest, most simple way to put it: I’m just sick of trying to be that delusional again.

Trading Hype for Reality

I don’t think I have another startup left in me, and I told my friends that over lunch. Instead, I’d rather go build normal businesses that make money from day one. I like the idea of a model where you can put money into R&D, but you actually know what the investment is and what the ROI looks like. You understand those pieces of risk much better upfront.

There’s still a spectrum of risk, of course. I still want to work on software businesses and similar projects. But the interesting thing about a standard business is that you don’t have those same crushed timelines and wild growth expectations hanging over your head.

Focus and Fulfillment

Without those pressures, you just get to focus on building the thing. You have a much higher hit rate. It’s a lot more fun, and you can still make a lot of money. Plenty of medium-sized business owners make a great living building things that are good for the world and provide solid employment.

You don’t need to do it the way the Silicon Valley ecosystem pushes. I think people get lost in the sauce of the ego trip that startups provide. There is so much external validation involved, but after doing this a few times, I’m just tired of that. I’m more excited about the reality of actually building good software.

The point of all this is to say that I think I’m done with starting startups for a very long time. I still love to build, and I’m excited to find people to build businesses with over my life, but I’m ready to gear my life toward something a bit more grounded.