Startups and All That

In a prior blog existence I ran a long set of articles on startups, garnered from my experience in a few and dealing with friends who were in them as well. I still track the startup scene. I think it’s a fascinating thing to do and I’d love to do another. There’s something exciting about startups that you just can’t replicate in any other type of venture.

Today I came across this article over at Ad Age. It got me thinking. Is too much money a problem? The article argues that too much too soon is bad. I will state that I agree. In fact, I think one of the best things to come out of the whole startup scene is Y Combinator which provides a modicum of funding to get a company quickly off the ground. Some folks I know tend to think it’s not a viable model, but I disagree. I think it’s actually a great model for recent graduates who are already frugally minded and able to work quickly and intensely. I don’t think it’s that good a model for those who have come to appreciate some finer things in life, like a social life .

And why do I think Y Combinator is a good thing? It allows for the “fail early/fail often” mentality that is crucial to getting a product out there and in customers hands and finding out if customers are actually interested in paying money for said product. Furthermore, by only providing a bit of cash it means working lean and focusing on getting the product out the door.

I’m hoping more investors start taking this route. I think there’s a lot of potential out there that doesn’t need a lot of cash to get off the ground, but needs some plus some mentoring. It feels like the 80s all over again when you could start up a company with $5000 a few months time, a friend or two, and a lot of determination. I hope I’m right, because it means we’ll be seeing a lot of cool companies and technologies be developed soon and that’s a good thing.