Lifestyle Startups Stigma

For a while I was fascinated and amazed at projects pursuing absurd mega-goals, attempts to get something off the ground so big it was nigh unto stupid. A floating city configuring an independent libertarian utopia nation. A billion-dollar indoor ski resort just outside Atlanta. A bridge from Spain to Africa sporting a 5 mile suspended span. A world-class [fill in the blank, how much ya got?] facility annex to a super-mall in "why would anyone move there" Syracuse NY. A "fast ferry" across Lake Ontario connecting Toronto with "why would you go there" Rochester NY. And so on, one project after another with big flashing "ain't gonna happen" signs over them.

Then I realized. It wasn't success of the project that was the goal, it was keeping a small team of creatives employed in a perpetual state of promotion and study-funding: find someone with deep enough pockets, and they'll shell out a livable fee to be able to say "hey, look at this..." to other deep pockets. No way that Atlanta ski resort would happen, but the idea was exciting enough to elicit enough funding for studies to pay the bills (at least until the vital-to-snow-making nearby lake almost dried up) for a few people in modest offices. You can make a nice, if modest, living promoting stupid ideas.

And if the stupid idea actually pans out, takes off, and succeeds, well, the possibility of success is awesome enough to keep trying.

This is just wrong. Even Google had early minor revenue. Revenue traction is king, it's the best kind of traction. User traction is a higher-risk proxy and thus must be more impressive to result in the same valuation after the risk discount.

Aside: Wanting to start a lifestyle startup does imply, correctly so, less ambition than the swing-for-the-fencers founders. That's why they're easy to pick on, ambition makes for much better stories.

quite a lot of tragedies have ambition as the "fatal flaw" of the main character.

Having revenue or profit also starts to give a point of reference for your valuation if you are raising money, which may or may not be what you'd like.