3 Early Signs a Startup Is Going to Be Successful
When entrepreneurs dream about running successful companies, they picture themselves building companies like Amazon or Google or Facebook or Tesla. After all, those are what successful startups “look like.” However, while those companies were, at some point, startups, the youngest of the four — Facebook — was founded in 2004, making it old enough to legally drive in most parts of the world. In other words, none of those companies are new or startups.
Entrepreneurs often forget this important piece of temporal context. As a result, when dreaming of entrepreneurial conquest, they usually overlook an important detail: The successful companies they so desperately want to emulate didn’t look the same when they were a few years into their respective startup journeys. Instead, the corporate behemoths, industry titans, and stock market darlings of today looked very different when they were startups. They were struggling, ugly companies trying to survive the first few tumultuous years of existence. What factors would have helped you — or anyone — predict how successful they would become?
Businesses and butterflies
I was reminded of the differences between startups and businesses the other day while I was out for a walk with my 4-year-old. She spotted a caterpillar inching its way across the sidewalk…
