Are You a Seesmic or Balsamiq Entrepreneur?

Seesmic is just a plain terrible idea though. Growth first, profit after is a great proven model which works well, but not if your idea is lame to start with.<p>There's no evidence to suggest people want to view slow videos of people making comments/waffling, rather than reading them. Seesmic traffic barely registers.

The ROI "upside" to moon-shot companies like Seesmic is deceptive. Yes, the success stories in the Seesmic bracket are 8-9 figure exits. But the founders (a) see only a small fraction of that return after preferences and dilution and (b) are disallowed from pursuing any but the most lucrative conceivable exits; the rocket is strapped to their back, and it's the moon or bust.<p>The investment "risk" of bootstrapped companies is also deceptive. If you have a business model that works, you don't need investment; if you'd benefit from an investment, you pursue it at your leisure.

Balsamiq: real.<p>Seesmic: bullshit.

There are also hybrid models. A "market place" startup might introduce individuals to other individuals or companies to individuals. In this case there might be a per transaction cost or the startup might charge one party and not the other.<p>In this case, the startup might grow horizontally with the freebie crowd and obtain a large market share, then sell the audience to an interested party for a fee. That's what my startup is doing :-)

I think the term "lifestyle business" scares a lot of startups.

Definitely a Balsamiq style entrepreneur. I don't even think twice about ideas that don't have a pricing model. I don't even seem to come up with them in the first place.

certainly combos also can include free and premium service.<p>with scale model -- you better have a landmark vision and the ability to execute exceptionally well.