Startups – there’s no business like show business
An interesting read in Newsweek. I feel the same is happening in Poland, on a smaller scale of course. Young people, if they think about starting a startup at all (which is not too popular here since there are so many nicely paid corpo-jobs), they surely do not want to build deeply technological companies. What they want are silly websites offering weird services, fun.
I put all of them into “show-business” category. It’s like producing a tv show. OK, it may be popular for a few years, but it doesn’t sustain for decades.
I think people choose to build such startups for a few reasons:
- it’s easy – you do not have to solve really difficult problems,
- it’s fancy – you will get media coverage and be like a star,
- it’s cheap,
- you may be lucky and sell it, earn a quick buck and live a hipster life.
In Poland most of these new “startups” fall into this type. What’s worse, they’re often badly managed by people who don’t know how to build a good product, or at least a working one. I know what I’m talking about. After all I run a major polish startups database Powebkach.
It’s how I look at it, however I don’t feel to be the right person to judge and say what we should do about it. Maybe just let it go? The determined ones will eventually evolve and the others will find their cubes.
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Wise man has spoken:) but…
Ain’t whole “startup industry” based on crazy ideas that look mad at first sight? Nobody could predict twitter’s success at the time they rolled out first prototype . Bunch on weirdos willing to broadcast short messages within group of friends – What the.. what?
Let the kids play and live their dream. 9 out 10 will fail miserable – so what? All of them will gain experience. Even if they will end up in open space for rest of their life, I’m sure it is worth to try.
You’re right, but I didn’t mean that picking up on risky or crazy ideas is stupid. No, not at all. I just wanted to say that some “startups” do not deserve all that attention they receive. They should be covered in The Sun, along with “stars” from reality shows.
I’m in love with crazy ideas that eventually may change the world. I just don’t feel like reading about “Got talent!”-style startups.