In Defense of Starting a Bad Business

The mistake is thinking your startup idea is venture-scale and getting on the VC treadmill. Once you’re on the treadmill, here’s what changes:

1. High growth expectations: VCs are looking for companies that grow big enough fast enough. If your business isn’t suited to this kind of rapid growth, it can lead to undue pressure and unrealistic expectation

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Stereotypically, the startup world is supposed to consist of heroes producing an excess return by pursuing ideas that nobody else believes in. In reality, the multi-stage nature of venture capital makes it very easy for the field to end up pinned to traditions about whether entrepreneurs ought to have red hair—not because everyone believes it, but

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The Problem with the "Right Idea"

The myth of the “right idea” is one of the biggest traps for aspiring founders. People imagine startups begin with a lightning bolt of inspiration: the one perfect idea that changes everything. But that’s not how it works.

Ideas evolve. Airbnb didn’t start as a marketplace for lodging—it was a website to rent air ma... See more