As long as there are statements, there shall be misinterpretations and misreadings of those statements.
Today’s topic of consideration is the word startup.
The best definitions I found are:
1. Dave McClure (via Quora)
A ‘startup’ is a company that is confused about –
- What its product is.
- Who its customers are.
- How to make money.
As soon as it figures out all 3 things, it ceases being a startup and becomes a real business.
Except most times, that doesn’t happen. 2. Steve Blank (via his blog post)
A startup is an organisation formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
Reading the entire post is highly recommended.
If your business model is not new, then you’re not a startup; you’re just a new business fraught with the usual business risks.
You may have heard that “90% of startups fail”; here’s a roughly similar fact “96% of new businesses fail”. The fact that you’re trying out a new business model very obviously means that you have only increased your risk of business failure.