Jan Bastyr

Start-up – a buzzword that starts to annoy me

Usually once per a year, people start using some word so often that I get literally sick of it. Recently, it was the trend of calling every phone the “iPhone killer”, now every new company or project is called a start-up. I’m not a native English-speaker, but even I know there are synonyms for the word start-up, so please, use it…like in the old days.

Oxford dictionary definition: a newly established business

What’s worse, some people evidently don’t even know that this word means. A five years old company, that just launches a new product that fits into their product portfolio, is not a start-up. A free online tool, that has no interest in making money whatsoever, is not a start-up.

Please, stop using this word in every occasion (especially when it’s wrong). I’m very interested in new projects, but this current “boom” around it is kind of repulsive.

Is it good to employ a friend or not?

As an entrepreneur, sooner or later you realise you need to hire someone and the first idea comes to mind might be to go for one of your friend. It seems like an obvious choice, I mean why not, right?

I have been struggling with this question since I started sole trading as a high school student. Back in these days, I was developing rather small websites for a few clients. Even then, I needed someone to create the graphic design, and later on some help with programming as I became more and more busy by dealing with clients.

I guess you’re probably thinking I went for a friend when I needed help and you’d be right. It was the easiest approach, no need for contracts, no worries about quality, et cetera. But as the business became more serious, I started to experience problems.

Based on the past I would say the biggest threat is social problems. Try to say “I don’t care your girlfriend has broken up with you, I need the website ready within two days.” to your friend. Someday, you’re going to face that problem. It’s unavoidable. And your first reaction will define the pattern for situations like this.

I bet everybody knows the rule “business and friendship don’t mix”, but honestly, most of us have broken the rule at least once. I still can recall the endless nights without sleep, working on the project that my friend couldn’t finish because he needed to sort out some problems. On the other hand, I know companies where everybody is friends, actually I was a part of one of those companies and it worked well most of the time.

You could argue a person you hired and you don’t know might do the same. That’s true, but their behaviour tends to be different, it’s more like the last resort. And primarily, insisting on finishing the work no matter what will be much easier.

So is it good to employ a friend or not? It clearly depends on your character. But if you have a similar mindset to mine, I would suggest a simple rule. If you need someone to help you for one or two projects, go for a friend. But if you need an employee or a long-term contract-based worker, for God’s sake find someone who will recognise you as a boss and nothing else. Trust me, it’s better for you.

The problem of successful stories

You can find a lot of successful stories on the internet or in books. Men who have built the most known IT companies, men who are making millions of dollars. It’s almost impossible not to get inspired by them.

People in general need heroes, they need their role models and there is nothing wrong about it. But the problem is not in the stories where Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg are saying what they did and how they succeed. The problem is lying somewhere else, in the lack of unsuccessful stories. Unfortunately, what some people don’t realise is that there are ninety-nine companies which have failed against the one that haven’t. However, the one that haven’t is also the only one you are going to read about. 

I have heard arguments like “Why would I want to read about what doesn’t work if I can read just what does instead?” or “Why should I be interested in stories of poor people who have ruined everything?”. I’m not saying you should listen to those people, that would be a complete nonsense. However, you have to be aware of the fact that those people often didn’t do a thing differently in comparison with those who are on the top, and yet they failed. There is no guarantee that if you copy those on the top, you will succeed.

Seth Godin, in his probably most known book Purple Cow, said that “It’s like trying to drive by watching the rear-view mirror”. The book is about marketing but I think the sentence can be applied to the more general point of view. I believe there is no single recipe to build the best product or deliver the best service. But many people think there is and I guess it’s partly because of lack of unsuccessful stories.

Think about it. We claim that “people learn from mistakes”, but we are surrounded by stories where everything went well. Surely, which company would possibly want to discredit themselves, but is it really discrediting?

Ok, it probably is. But I really believe people need more articles, case studies and stories about failing. And believe me, it’s often much more interesting than “I did that and it worked”. Successful stories are great to be inspired by, but don’t act by them. Stop dreaming and be a realist. Business has never been an exact science and it never will be.

Note: If you are interested in unsuccessful stories, buy the book “How they blew it”, including sixteen stories of failure. Sometimes, I must admit, a totally unbelievable failure.