I've been working out of the TechStars offices for the last few months and most of these guys don't care what their product is as long as they can sell it to investors. In Job's world, the customer is the consumer. In the startup world, the customer is the Angel/VC.
Steve Jobs' memo to startups
111–120 of 133 posts
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#112I can't say he was mistaken, since he was only saying he disliked it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a company at any stage. Steve's problem with selling seemed to be that you're shirking work by doing it. But that isn't necessarily, or even usually, true. A lot of people who sell startups go on to do other things, and often bigger things. If we were still running Viaweb, we could not have star…
What he's criticizing is doing a startup specifically so that it could be flipped later. If you are in it to build a real company, you actually go through the hard work that Jobs is talking about. Did you start viaweb to sell it to someone else later, or did you start it to build an actual sustainable business?
I too mostly "hate it when people call THEMSELVES entrepreneurs". But I do love it when people say and prove that they are looking to change the world. If that involves building and selling a company, then why not? By selling Viaweb and then growing YC, pg has done more to change the world than he could have done by staying put.
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#113I can't say he was mistaken, since he was only saying he disliked it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a company at any stage. Steve's problem with selling seemed to be that you're shirking work by doing it. But that isn't necessarily, or even usually, true. A lot of people who sell startups go on to do other things, and often bigger things. If we were still running Viaweb, we could not have star…
Your writing was a much bigger deal than ViaWeb.
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#114"Don't bother. Whatever you're working on, we've already patented it."
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#115This from the guy who took the $5000 for breakout after Woz stayed up for 4 days straight fixing design issues caused by bad specs from Jobs. Fucking managers.
Do you have a citation for the "design issues" thing, or are you just making that up? It was over 4 days because Bushnell needed the game fast. The design was completely in Woz's hands and the incentive was to do it with as few chips as possible, also from Bushnell. Your claim that Jobs took all the money is a lie. The allegation is he split the original fee with Woz exactly as promised, and simply never told Woz abo…
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Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#116"Don't bother. Whatever you're working on, we've already patented it."
Can you elaborate on this, please?
Do you mean the minute you publish your work it is already patented?
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#117I can't say he was mistaken, since he was only saying he disliked it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a company at any stage. Steve's problem with selling seemed to be that you're shirking work by doing it. But that isn't necessarily, or even usually, true. A lot of people who sell startups go on to do other things, and often bigger things. If we were still running Viaweb, we could not have star…
What he's criticizing is doing a startup specifically so that it could be flipped later. If you are in it to build a real company, you actually go through the hard work that Jobs is talking about. Did you start viaweb to sell it to someone else later, or did you start it to build an actual sustainable business?
What exactly do people view as "wrong" about building a company to sell? Companies are sold because it's in the interest of both parties involved in the transaction, so it must serve some legitimate function in the economy. Perhaps it's a little different if they're bought by a larger company only to eliminate the smaller competitor, but I doubt that's why buyouts usually happen.
It seems really silly to me to criticize someone for wanting a high payoff to labor ratio or not wanting to dedicate their life to everything they do, but I don't know - what's the reasoning?
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#118I can't say he was mistaken, since he was only saying he disliked it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a company at any stage. Steve's problem with selling seemed to be that you're shirking work by doing it. But that isn't necessarily, or even usually, true. A lot of people who sell startups go on to do other things, and often bigger things. If we were still running Viaweb, we could not have star…
My guess is that he's talking about this problem: http://blog.wilshipley.com/2011/04/success-and-farming-vs-mi...
"Founders and angel investors usually don’t particularly care if the companies they created live or die after they sell out, because they’ve gotten their money and moved on. There’s no stigma to having a company you founded fail after you leave it. In fact, again, it's a badge of honor: “Bob Smith founded Flopper.com, sold it for $46MM, then got out before it tanked! Genius!”"
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#119It is an interesting situation, there seems to be the one-brand, one-tech company. Just ripe for sale, when there is no reason(other than funding) that a founder couldn't start a small tech company or group, and grow various new technologies under the same umbrella, turning each into a product, and thus money stream.
Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups
#120With this in mind I wonder why he chose to sell Pixar. While he made a tremendous amount of money from the sale, I don't think it was really enough to make a tremendous change in his lifestyle.
He did not start the Pixar. He bought it and then sold it.
Half true. He bought a division of LucasArts; it wasn't even called Pixar until the sale meant it needed its own name. The idea of Pixar being a feature length animated movie house wasn't even conceivable until Steve Jobs was there to negotiate with Disney for financing and distribution.