In the following short stories, I use the masculine gender because I honestly feel that men are more susceptible to the start-up virus.
The old fairy tale…
Once upon a time, an idea for a novelty product popped into the mind of an ordinary office-going Joe. During breaks and just before falling asleep, he would try to balance the risks and benefits of follow-up. He had his share of mortgages and debts, children and parents to support, and after all, he had some to save for rainy days. He dedicated himself to working on his idea in his spare time and at night and soon had the product in working order. He continued his day job, saving every penny possible and perfecting his sales plan in the meantime.
When he felt well, he quit his job, borrowed money from friends and banks without touching his savings, and launched into his new business, with only one or two assistants. After much probing, often door to door marketing, luckily sales happened and he after a while she was able to hire more people, advertise and increase sales. In a few years he was able to pay back everything he had borrowed and in a few more years he had many employees and was making money, hand over fist. He died happy, with his family well provided for and without a blemish on his character.
Now the modern fairy tale…
Once upon a time, an idea for a novelty product popped into the mind of an ordinary office-going Joe. Still, he had felt too good for his office, so he immediately resigned to focus on his idea full-time.
Of course, his family stepped aside to support him, he was left alone: true love would never stop someone from following a dream!
He immediately googled entrepreneurial crash courses and downloaded templates for business proposals, forecasts, plans, and other nonsense. She enlisted the services of a marketing consultant, graphic designer, digital marketing specialist, etc., to create collateral for the benefit of crowdfunding sites, venture capitalists, and potential clients. He spent hours preparing all kinds of launches, presentations, videos, and sales projections.
After months of networking at startup meetups, shark tanks, and accelerator programs, a greedier VC finally took the bait and a few million were invested in the company. Lavish offices, expensive equipment and mercenaries – research and development continued. Huge amounts were spent on marketing and analysis of marketing results.
Within a couple of years, just as the funds were about to dry up, he managed to get even better VC funding on the strength of the old one and the tremendous success that seemed so close. Millions more pour into…
By now the product had changed a bit, with so many cooks with ladles and the entrepreneur has worked too hard to keep up appearances while trying to sell enough. In another couple of years he filed for bankruptcy.
A failed businessman is still a glorified being and we see him again with his thousand-watt smile and yet another idea. After all, he did manage to get so many funds from prestigious venture capitalists. There must be something worthwhile and so the cycle continues.
Now, who is the smartest businessman?
The amazing thing is that “millions” and “billions” roll off our tongues so easily in the context of start-ups, especially failed ones. For average laymen with their mundane jobs, who will never get to touch even a tenth of that, the idea of such a gamble is inconceivable.
It seems to be a completely different world, a bubbly one that is sure to burst.
