That at least partly depends on what you define as a “startup”. Graham’s idea of one seems to be oriented towards “business that will expand and either be bought out by a major company or become one”, vs. “enterprise that builds personal wealth for the founder(s)”.
By Graham’s criteria, Joel Spolsky’s company, Fog Creek, would not have been considered a startup, for example, nor would any business I’ve ever personally run or been a shareholder of.
[Edit: I should say, “or been a 10%+ shareholder of”; after all, I’ve held shares in public companies, some of which were undoubtedly startups!]
That at least partly depends on what you define as a “startup”.
At the most general, creating your own business (excluding the sort of “contract” status in which the only difference with an employee is in the accounting details) and making a good living from it.
At the most narrow, starting up a business that, as Guy Kawasaki puts it, solves the money problem for the rest of your life.
Maybe a survey would be interesting, either as a thread here or on somewhere like surveymonkey tha would allow anonymous responses. “1. Are you an employee/own your own business/living on a pile of money of your own/a dependent/other? 2. Which of those states would you prefer to be in? 3. If the answers to 1 and 2 are different, are you doing anything about it?”
I can’t get back to this until this evening (it is locally 10am as I write). Suggestions welcome.
You need at least one more item in there—“retired”, i.e. with passive income that exceeds one’s costs of living. Different from “living on a pile of money”, insofar as there might still be things you can’t afford.
I wonder what percentage have ever tried?
That at least partly depends on what you define as a “startup”. Graham’s idea of one seems to be oriented towards “business that will expand and either be bought out by a major company or become one”, vs. “enterprise that builds personal wealth for the founder(s)”.
By Graham’s criteria, Joel Spolsky’s company, Fog Creek, would not have been considered a startup, for example, nor would any business I’ve ever personally run or been a shareholder of.
[Edit: I should say, “or been a 10%+ shareholder of”; after all, I’ve held shares in public companies, some of which were undoubtedly startups!]
At the most general, creating your own business (excluding the sort of “contract” status in which the only difference with an employee is in the accounting details) and making a good living from it.
At the most narrow, starting up a business that, as Guy Kawasaki puts it, solves the money problem for the rest of your life.
Maybe a survey would be interesting, either as a thread here or on somewhere like surveymonkey tha would allow anonymous responses. “1. Are you an employee/own your own business/living on a pile of money of your own/a dependent/other? 2. Which of those states would you prefer to be in? 3. If the answers to 1 and 2 are different, are you doing anything about it?”
I can’t get back to this until this evening (it is locally 10am as I write). Suggestions welcome.
You need at least one more item in there—“retired”, i.e. with passive income that exceeds one’s costs of living. Different from “living on a pile of money”, insofar as there might still be things you can’t afford.
I wonder what percentage are even inclined to try?