Is startup a noun or a verb?
Once upon a time, starting a business was a verb. “Starting up” was a difficult, exciting, and vulnerable phase in the long, slow process of establishing and developing a business.
At some point, “startup” became a noun — as in “let’s do a startup.”
This shift may have occurred in parallel with a wider trend: capital moving from building to renting. That’s what happened when Apple decided to sit on its $15 billion cash mountain instead of vertically integrating (at the time, many assumed Apple would buy Verizon). Since then, the size of that mountain has fluctuated (source) but, on balance, has grown.
Capital moving from building stuff to charging rent might sound abstract, but it maps directly onto startup culture. When you chase a Series A round (and then B, C, etc.), you’re dealing with people who don’t necessarily care about community, society, innovation, or creativity. These players are converting capital into ARR as quickly as possible — in other words, they’re talking to you and your mates because they expect you to start charging rent. ASAP.
Obviously, business isn’t charity. But when I started my first business, it was because I had a dream — a vision of what my future could look like and how I might put a dent in the universe.
I suspect many people starting up today feel the same way, but the environment is very different now. We live in a time of extreme inequality and a heavily financialised economy. For most younger entrepreneurs, that probably means the default pattern is a startup backed by VC funding.
If I were backing business ideas today, I’d want to talk to people with plans that can survive the current AI bubble. I’m not saying everyone needs to bootstrap — but the VC-to-ARR conveyor belt is not (at least in my view) a sustainable plan.
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