Aral Balkan
Do I want it? (A ‘startup’ is not just any new small business. It’s a temporary venture capital funded company that must either fail fast or exit. An exit is where you’re either bought by Big Tech or become Big Tech through an IPO. To understand this better, if you have a sustainable small company, a startup is what will put you out of business.) #startups #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #vc #SurveillanceCapitalism #PeopleFarming 39 comments
Aral Balkan
@t0k People do, wrongly, use it to refer to any type of new company. And that’s just great as far as Silicon Valley and venture capitalists are concerned. They know what a real startup is but if there sustainable, ethical companies that self-identify using the term, that’s great for the brand. They can turn to those and say ‘look, not all startups are toxic, extractive, exploitative ventures…’ So it helps them a lot in resisting regulation…
Aral Balkan
@t0k … But would they ever invest a single cent in such a company? No, never. If you want to know what is and what isn’t a real startup, just look at what Silicon Valley and venture capitalists invest in and what they don’t. 
Sumana Harihareswara
@aral @t0k As I mentioned to @gvwilson when he asked a similar question (the other responses there may also interest you): https://social.coop/@brainwane/110894011474480273 "zebras" is a term some folks are using. 
Sven Slootweg
Marty Fouts
@t0k @aral No it is not. “Fail fast or exit” is far more restrictive than what happens in practice and leaves out profitability as a path. Startups either fail, the more common case, or evolve into profitable companies; but even failures can involve multiple rounds of financing extending over many years.
Aral Balkan
PS. They won’t necessarily put you out of business because they have a better product or anything like that. They will put you out of business because they have a minimum of $5 million to burn to undercut you and starve you out. #startups #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #vc #SurveillanceCapitalism #PeopleFarming 
Aral Balkan
@arielcg That was the bit I was referring to with ‘To understand this better, if you have a sustainable small company, a startup is what will put you out of business.’ :) But yes, exactly that. 
Jeremy Kahn
All the lessons from folklore about faerie markets apply triple to venture capital "don't accept gifts or eat the food; trades will always turn out to have a catch; you'll probably end up a slave to the Fair People"
Tom
That's not the worst part, they don't even have to make a profit later. They just burn capital to keep prices low, put enough competitors out of business to make the IPO/sale attractive then cash out to the rubes who bought their BS. After that, why should they give a shit? The VC/founder business model NEVER has to work long term for the players to win big.
Ariel C.G.
@Tallish_Tom @aral yeah, but you need to at least "make the effort" to make the IPO and that someone is interested. See Reddit's (poor) attempt at it by killing third party tools or making them pay insane amounts; and all the ads and gift-thingys they show you.
Ben Cox
@Tallish_Tom @arielcg @aral & many of the rubes are the employees. (Equity compensation is wage theft. Pass it on!)
Michael Roberts
@Tallish_Tom @arielcg @aral - Working or thinking long-term is actually seen as a negative. 
Rob Landley
@Tallish_Tom @arielcg @aral It also grinds up founders who WANT to make a sustainable business but are naieve enough to take VC funding. You could be profitable at 6 people (like a dental practice) but have to hire 20 in a big office to show "growth". So you overshoot your revenue and must pursue a second and third round of VC funding. Teaching someone to swim by giving them a 500 pound scuba tank with a second tank on the bottom of the ocean. Keeping your head above water vs go straight down.
Glitzersachen.de
Antranig Vartanian :freebsd:
@aral that's not the definition of a startup. many startups are not VC funded. A Startup is a new small business with the potential to grow big.
Aral Balkan
@antranigv Thank you for mainstreamplaining that to me. I very much appreciate your effort.
Matthew Graybosch
@antranigv You're arguing from a dictionary definition. @aral is arguing from how startups generally work in the real world.
  
Eric Schultz
@aral 100% agree. If it's VC funded, it's better to assume it's going to be shit sooner rather than later. |
Gregory's Server
@aral Is this a generally accepted meaning of 'startup'? I always thought the term refers to any type of new company, but have no clue.