Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin
Startups and Planes (breckyunits.com)
3 points by breck on Feb 24, 2013 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments


Wow, this analogy is doubly wrong.

We expect planes doing risky tests to crash. A startup is a risky early stage test, similar to what a plane does in a wind tunnel as a model, or as a cfd simulation, not scheduled passenger service.

The cause of startup failure is not financiers being in charge.

Startup failure is not a plane crash, but more akin to a to-around on landing, or a cancelled flight. No one dies. Resources are redistributed to more productive activities to try again (the most valuable being engineering opportunity cost).


You can certainly treat your startup as a test flight.

But if your goal is to create a long term business, you need to treat it more like a passenger flight and design it to not crash.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: