What is a “startup?”
It’s not a Jeopardy answer, just a frustrating question
This is probably a topic that has been written about hundreds of times, maybe not. Regardless, it’s something that keeps popping up, and the more it does, the more it bugs me. What the heck is a “startup?”
It feels like somewhere along the way, the meaning of the term got lost, or maybe it never really had one to begin with. Doing some quick Googling, you’ll find the term first popped up in the 1970’s in a couple Forbes articles about tech companies. But since then, the word has mutated into much more than a piece of creative copywriting. Now it’s a badge of honor. It’s about excitement, innovation, and youth. Businesses aren’t that cool, but the ones that are, those are startups.
Words are important
The reason why categorical terms like these are important is because they give us a sense of identity, relationship, and mission. If you are a “parent,” you are at least supposed to be somewhat mature and responsible, you have a relationship with your child , and your mission is to take care of them. These terms give us some kind of cultural context for what the heck we should be doing.
It’s our mixed cultural context for what calling something a “startup” means that results in a really confusing experience and one that often ends in failure. Some of us think of startups as just young businesses who need to grow and mature. Others look at them as having to do with a certain type of new industry or innovative business model.
In having to help teams with products figure out what the heck they should be doing, we use the word very carefully. A startup is not a new company. It’s not an innovative company.
A startup is a company without a validated product.
So what is a validated product? In short, it answers two big questions in the affirmative:
- Does the product or service produce the intended outcome for your potential customer?
- Is there a market demand for that outcome?
Check those two boxes and you’re either no longer a startup or you never were one.
Smells like the future
A couple easy examples of products that would make a company a startup would be a cat pee-scented air freshener and a teleporter. The disgusting air freshener indeed makes a room smell like a litter box (check 1), but is there market demand for that? I hope not (strike 2). On the other hand, there is a massive market for instantaneous travel (check 2), but can a product produce that outcome yet? I wish (strike 1).
So why talk about this stuff at all? Because the only thing a company that lacks a validated product is ever supposed to be doing is validating their product. And if they can’t, they need find a new one. By any means necessary, validate your product by answering those two questions.
Are you supposed to be learning about marketing channels? No.
Are you supposed to be figuring out your brand voice? No.
Are you supposed to be reducing operational costs? No
Are those things bad? Not at all, but validate your product first.
Worth a clap? We hope so, but if not let us know why below in the comments
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