humble brag
Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
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Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#272Biggest lesson I learned from my failure to build even a million-dollar company was the same... You can't engineer your way out of a marketing problem.
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#273[deleted]
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#274Suggested title change: “Reflecting on My Failure to Win the Lottery”
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
The employees got paid less because of vesting. It is a gamble and this story shows different outcomes for employees. Pinterest paided off and gumtree didn't. In both cases the founder made between 20-50 million.
Both employees and founders vest. Founders own more of the company than employees, of course. The good news is anyone can start a company!
Agreed but if you choose to be an employee opt for higher salary over vested future value for better game theory results.
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most businesses should strive to be self-sustaining. And if they make obscene amounts of money, all the power to them. What I dislike is A) the view from startup land that there are only two types of new businesses, "startups" and everything else ("lifestyle") B) and the "everything else" category is somehow inferior or even some sort of hobby or vanity project. Sahil used the term to describe his own company, and at…
Gumroad took 10.35MM in investment to build a company that does 780k/yr (65k/mo*12mo) in profit. The numbers don't work out to call that a success. If he bootstrapped and reached 780k/mo after 8 years of work that would be a successful lifestyle business and he should be absolutely proud. I'm absolutely not trying to be judgmental as I've succeeded and failed at businesses myself.
That's actually not a bad return on investment (7.5% yearly)
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most businesses should strive to be self-sustaining. And if they make obscene amounts of money, all the power to them. What I dislike is A) the view from startup land that there are only two types of new businesses, "startups" and everything else ("lifestyle") B) and the "everything else" category is somehow inferior or even some sort of hobby or vanity project. Sahil used the term to describe his own company, and at…
Gumroad took 10.35MM in investment to build a company that does 780k/yr (65k/mo*12mo) in profit. The numbers don't work out to call that a success. If he bootstrapped and reached 780k/mo after 8 years of work that would be a successful lifestyle business and he should be absolutely proud. I'm absolutely not trying to be judgmental as I've succeeded and failed at businesses myself.
>>If he bootstrapped and reached 780k/mo after 8 years of work that would be a successful lifestyle business
I find it difficult to call $10M/year a “lifestyle business.”
To me, lifestyle business means a business that can support the owner in their lifestyle. So unless the owner spends millions of dollars every year...
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#278I was basically alone. I didn’t have a team, nor an office. And San Francisco was full of startups raising gobs more money, building amazing teams, and shipping great products. Some of my friends became billionaires. Meanwhile, I had to run a “measly” lifestyle business. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I had to keep the ship from sinking. There's that term again, "lifestyle business." Uttered like a dirty word, wh…
"lifestyle business" is really just a small business that works, is self-sustaining, and not overly bloated to attempt to make obscene amounts of $$$. I feel like this is exactly what most companies should strive for. They'll make better decisions that way.
Isnt a "lifestyle" business a business to support the lifestyle of the founder? IE money is not typically a problem, either the company is profitable or the founder will support it loss making. The main function of the company is to keep the founder entertained more than anything else.
There are a lot of companies like this (big & small), though sometimes its not recognisable from the outside. Note the goal is still ostensibly to make money. You don't run a business when you could have retired if you don't love growing businesses. I cant imagine a founder turning down an offer to expand rapidly, if it made sense. They just tend to avoiding going all in on a particular bet and for obvious reasons don't like ceeding control to outside investors.
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#279I was basically alone. I didn’t have a team, nor an office. And San Francisco was full of startups raising gobs more money, building amazing teams, and shipping great products. Some of my friends became billionaires. Meanwhile, I had to run a “measly” lifestyle business. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I had to keep the ship from sinking. There's that term again, "lifestyle business." Uttered like a dirty word, wh…
I think this comment is an unfair treatment of Sahil's opinion. He disclaimers all this at the start with the following:
> Now, it may look like I am in an enviable position, running a profitable, growing, and low-maintenance software business with customers who adore us. But for years, I considered myself a failure. At my lowest point, I had to lay off 75% of my company, including many of my best friends. I had failed.
> I no longer feel shame in the path I took to get to where I am today. It took me years to realize that I was misguided from the outset. This is that journey, from the beginning.
He acknowledges that he is grateful and proud of his lifestyle business. There's nothing wrong with the phrase itself. I run a lifestyle tech business as well. I'm proud of it. I switch between "small business", "sustainable long-term business" and "lifestyle business" depending on my audience. "lifestyle business" doesn't have to be a dirty word if you don't use it as one.
Re: Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
#280More relevant than the cliché striptease of a failure, specially when told by a youngster, is this tidbit hidden in the article:
To me, happiness is so much about an expectation of positive change.