

Building a Startup v. Building a Business - kentonwhite
https://battlehardened.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/building-a-startup-v-building-a-business/

======
mikeleeorg
I really like Steve Blank's definition of a startup:

"A startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable
business model."

Source: [http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-
princ...](http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/)

~~~
akrymski
And by that definition, creating a great product (which I believe is what he's
tried to do) isn't the goal. Sad but true?

And by business model I guess Steve means selling something at a profit. And
scalable means having enough stuff to sell or enough people to sell to? I saw
Steve's presentation in person, and I can't see I fully agree, because it
seems to me that awesome products can't be made like that (eg the iphone). And
there's the danger of falling into "consulting" with that approach cause after
all it kinda fits the definition: you can scale your salesforce to find
clients, there are loads of potential customers, and you can scale your
workforce (through outsourcing) as much as you want to. Probably a great
business though, but to me startups are about building great products first,
taking a leap of faith to do that, and finding ways to monetize them later
(google, facebook, apple have all done that) even if they can't be sold for
money directly to consumers.

------
keiferski
I'm all for eliminating the term startup entirely. You're either a website or
an online business. Pretty simple.

~~~
akrymski
While at it, lets eliminate "online business" cause what does that mean
anyway? Having no offline store? And how can you "be a website" anyway?

There are just "businesses with websites". Which is most businesses these
days. Like Gap. Gap is a business with a website (their online store). So is
Amazon. Should we call them different things cause Amazon has warehouses but
no commercial premises? No they are both "retailers with a website". So
startup should be replaced by:

"[ type of ] business with a website".

Some are software businesses, like Facebook or Google or Microsoft. Some are
B2C, others are B2B. Just cause some of them choose to make digital products
(software) and deliver them via a website doesn't make them a "startup" cause
there are startups that make physical stuff.

------
kkt262
I truly believe that there should be no distinction between the two. A startup
is a business.

------
funthree
Axiom: Words are just pointers to actual thoughts we intend to project

A startup is definitely a business, by definition of anyone who runs a startup
that actually works. The author might have conveyed his point more astutely by
choosing different terms. Saying that you are just building a startup and not
a business because you are forcing your hand at growth prematurely seems a
little immature because all of the people that have a different understanding
of the word startup are going to be shaking their heads a little bit.

Startup are as much about marketing as they are about scaling out.

You have to have both balanced out, and there are many equally important
aspects of any business. I think that forcing your business to grow before
there are really any sales only works if you have a greater and over-arching
sales or marketing plan that this plays into. That is, if you haven't proven
your idea with real customer testimonials, or you arent better-solving some
other problem that has already been proven to bring in revenue then it's just
a mistake.

