Doing Business, Profits, and Startups
The goal of most businesses, I believe, should be to earn a profit from the sale of goods or services.
Over the past 20+ years, we’ve seen a succession of bizarre business models, in which little thought was given to “profit,” but instead to intermediate metrics (our web site needs visitors, eyeballs, clicks, engagement, etc.). Many dot-com companies succumbed to ‘perverse incentives.’“
When I was a consultant, I refused to work for companies that didn’t view “revenue” or “profit” as significant measures of their operations.
After I quit consulting, I joined Hurricane Electric Internet Services, which is a company that embodies many of my values. (I became a customer a decade earlier.)
Often, people who aren’t familiar with Hurricane Electric (HE) think that it’s a “startup,” and they’re surprised to learn that HE has operated for 22 years … without ever taking venture capital, and without plotting an “exit strategy.”
Instead, the company’s founder has always wanted to provide meaningful services to customers, and earn a profit from the sale of those services. Period.
I’m growing very comfortable here.
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This post is also published at LinkedIn.
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