Start a Business, Not a Startup

Explicit content warning

12/21/21 • 25 min

5 Listeners

Last episode of the year and we're talking about startups. The new dry cleaner down the street doesn't call itself a startup. The pizza place on the corner doesn't call itself a startup. They're new businesses, that's all! So, what's so special about your tech company that you need a fancy word for it? Startups make you think of unlimited growth, huge investments, no expenses to worry about. This mindset can be unhealthy and detrimental to your new business.

Show Notes

02:57 - Request for Proposal (Investopedia)
10:02 - Greater fool theory (Wikipedia)
15:57 - R.I.P. Good Times (Sequoia Capital)
23:00 - Hotwire

Show Notes

02:57 - Request for Proposal (Investopedia)
10:02 - Greater fool theory (Wikipedia)
15:57 - R.I.P. Good Times (Sequoia Capital)
23:00 - Hotwire

Previous Episode

You Need Less Than You Think (Season 2)

Before you start your great new business you'll NEED to hire some people, raise some money, rent an office, buy some ads, etc. etc. OF COURSE YOU DON'T. These are all just the trappings entrepreneurs tell themselves they need, when in reality, all you need is to start making something.

Show Notes

00:03 - Budweiser Wassup Commercial (YouTube)
01:28 - Dungeons & Dragons
05:34 - Coudal Partners
07:36 - Minimum Viable Product (Wikipedia)
09:00 - Gumroad
09:03 - Stripe
09:22 - Squarespace
09:24 - Mailchimp
17:33 - Basecamp Merch
23:07 - Fingerspitzengefühl (Wikipedia)

Next Episode

Building to Flip is Building to Flop

A lot of people start businesses with the hope that they'll be able to sell it quickly for a huge pile of money. While this might happen sometimes, it's extremely rare and even worse, the businesses created with this goal sacrifice so much just for the chance to sell. They sacrifice their customers, their employees, their product quality... You get the idea. It's like building a house that only looks good in pictures, but you certainly wouldn't want to live in it.

Show Notes

03:10 - The Imbox: It's not a typo
17:38 - Basecamp 3 Uptime
22:04 - Mojito island is a mirage (Signal v. Noise)
23:21 - Why 37signals Refocused on a Single Product: Basecamp (Inc.)
23:49 - Groundhog Day (IMDb)
25:52 - Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Bookshop.org)

REWORK - Start a Business, Not a Startup

Transcript

Shaun: [00:00:00] Welcome to Rework. Before we get into the show, we actually got a question sent in from a listener. So let me play that and I'll have you two respond.
Joram: [00:00:11] Hello, my name is Joram. In the recent episode where you talked about mission statements, I could sense your disgust for them. But I wonder if mission statements are the most effective way of letting strangers know about what we do as a business. I mean, if they didn't work, beer companies wouldn't have been p