Greg Sterling is ‘looking for plan b‘, an option for internet entrepreneurs who are building businesses without regard for their exit (or perhaps when an exit doesn’t present itself). What if you just built a business because you were passionate about an idea and the thought of making it a success? Greg correctly points out that,
‘Most Internet entrepreneurs and their funders are identical to real-estate speculators — I don’t entirely blame them given how many people have made money in this way. They make something look impressive in the shortest amount of time in the hope that there will be a bidding war and they’ll get 5X to 10X (or more) the original money invested. In other words they’re flipping the business in the same way that people (used to) flip houses during the real estate bubble.’
Of course I have been guilty of this sort of ‘built to flip’ mentality. More recently I realized that my startup(s) were a means instead of an end. I enjoy building things, turning ideas into reality. Selling and starting over means I lose my platform (i.e. the means) to easily launch a new idea (i.e. people, facilities, resources and capital). Why not keep the platform and build businesses/ideas for fun? Architel was originally built to flip, but over the years (7+) it has allowed me (and my team) to a) produce a reality television series, b) build a bunch of cool/free internet applications, c) build cool stuff for FOX and LEGO, d) turn my ideas (aka ServiceGuy) into applications, and e) start thinking about my own ‘plan b’ - i.e. what I am passionate about and what the next half of my life will look like (i.e. SpringStage). Maybe selling out would give me a little cash, but what would it cost me? What is your ‘plan b’?
Link to original post