One short remark: There was a lot of good in that
lecture. But generally the theme is, that when have
2-3 founders and are growing to 10-15 people, the
situation is, in just one word, <i>desperate</i>.<p>Let's consider that: Yes, the subject is a startup
that is intended to grow to be worth $1+ billion.
The field is information technology.<p>Okay, but at 2-3 people up to 15, whatever the
potential is, what is there is, in two words, still
a <i>small business</i>.<p>Now, what can we say about starting and running a
small business?<p>Well, the US, coast to coast, border to border, in
cross roads and villages up to the largest cities, is
just awash in small businesses. We know about many
of them quite well, e.g., grass mowing (the guys
that mow grass in my neighborhood arrive with about
$70,000 in capital equipment and 3-4 people), pizza
shops, Chinese carry out shops, red/white checkered
table cloth, red sauce Italian-American restaurants,
auto body shops, auto repair shops, barber shops,
kitchen remodeling, residential construction general
contractors, suburban paving, masonry, a dental
practice, a family medical practice, an independent
insurance company, a SOHO law firm, a CPA accounting
firm, and, actually, many more that are B2B and less
well known, e.g., wholesale plumbing, manufacturer's
representative, electrical engineering, and more
generally a huge range of <i>big truck/little truck</i>
businesses.<p>With this background, I come to the main<p>Point: Now these businesses are often sole
proprietorships, file taxes as a Subchapter S, are
not Delaware C corporations, do not have a board of
directors, have no one with an MBA, and have never
watched a lecture such as Altman's. And, commonly
they stay in business. And mostly there is usually
no air of being <i>desperate</i>.<p>E.g., for one point of difference with Altman's
lecture, one bad hire does not kill the company.
And hiring a good person does not take nearly as
long as a year.<p>Okay, once a company has done well and grown to,
say, 10-15 people, fine; if then the company has
promise of growing to $1+ billion and many
employees, terrific; then let the growth begin. But
first step, make it through the stage of a <i>small
business</i>, and that should not necessarily be wildly
different from running, say, a pizza shop.<p>So, since I'm eager to learn, where is this little
point wrong?