Guest Post by Sean Lindsay
[When asked by BostInno to define what makes a startup, Sean Lindsay (@rseanlindsay), cofounder and CTO of Sigma company Viximo, and founder of Founder Mentors, came up with the following (published originally here). More ideas welcome in the comments!]
I started brainstorming over lunch with the guys at Viximo and conceived this Jeff Foxworthy style “you might (not) be a startup” idea. Here’s what we came up with.
- If failure of a major effort no longer risks the survival of the company, you’re probably not a startup
- If your founders aren’t full-access Facebook friends with every employee, you’re probably not a startup
- If you have published “hours of operation”, you’re probably not a startup
- If you’re buying up other revenue generating companies, you’re probably not a startup
- If employees have to hide outside projects and interests from their boss, you’re probably not a startup
- If you have more than 100 employees and are hiring, you’re probably not a startup
- If you have a satellite office that is an actual office (not just a guy), you’re probably not a startup
- If you have a believable revenue plan that demonstrates profitability, you’re probably not a startup
- Unless every employee in your organization knows they can personally move the needle any given day, you’re probably not a startup
