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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
by 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 agoPaul 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 agoYeah. Stupid old dictionaries. Hey: a good YC application idea! Disrupt them!
- yellow_and_gray 12y agoThe 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.