The weirdest question I've ever been ask about entrepreneurship

So, are you a startup guy, or traditional business guy?

Backstory: So out of the blue, this guy, let's call him Jay, messaged me because he found me when he Google something. (I'm pretty sure he didn't Google "something" and got me, but if that's the case, that's one heck of an SEO I have against my name!)

He asked me about startup stuff, what I was doing now after ending KICKSTART.MY prematurely etc. So after I told him about the few business that I run and a few projects I'm involved in, he popped that question.

So, are you a startup guy, or traditional business guy?

Firstly, for such a vague question, I need to get his definition right. But before I could, he has ghosted on me. So, I was left thinking through the night, what would be the right answer, and I thought why not I employ my hidden ability of multiple personalities, and try different definitions.

And mind you, there will be some generalisation of "startup" founders mentioned in this post. By no way does it include all of them, just based on my (limited) exposure to the community here and around the region.

Mindset

While I like to think most of my businesses are traditional (based on the sub-definition of no 10x weekly growth on one metric), I also like to think my way of thinking is not conventional. Sure, I value the fundamentals like product-market fit, strong cash flow, systems and automation, and generally building products/services that people actually want, as much as possible, I try to employ new technologies in my businesses. This ranges from marketing to operations, cost-efficiency to outsourcing.

Also, rather than the old school methods of outbound selling, I rely mostly on inbound marketing. Being a lover of technology, I try as much as possible to automate my businesses with softwares like Buffer, Convertfox, Newton, Vocus.io, BatchedInbox and more.

Not sure if that is a "startup" mindset, but I'm just:

• A lazyass (productivity-focused)
• A cheap-ass (cost-optimization) and,
• A hot-ass (perception marketing) - my own ass ain't nowhere near the hot scale.

A lot of "startup" founders I know pride themselves with "startup" or cutting-edge thinking, but seriously, they need to take a pulse on the reality of things. Some would try to capture market share at the expense of profit, raise funds at the expense of improving efficiency, and culture curation at the expense of business development.

Sadly, based on those markers, then I guess I'm not a "startup" guy.

Profitability & Cash Flow

Most "startup" founders, mainly due to their funding, would aim for market share instead of profitability. Some would even pay their employees higher than themselves, since they got "stake".

I'm a single-dad, I got a kid to feed! And that has to come from the business I generate, or a salary that I draw.

Well, on that basis, I'm also not a "startup" guy.

Sustainability

Other than Pitchtitan.com that started because of a grant, the rest of my businesses have to achieve self-sustenance as fast as possible, so it can sustain myself! I never got investor fundings before, so I never truly experience building my business with someone else's money. I can't say for the distant future, but for now, it's not something I crave to have. Just like those fish pedicure that involves you dunking your legs into an aquarium filled with tiny toothless Garra fish, I'm ok to have "never raised a single VC funding" on my gravestone, alongside "nor been to fish pedicure either".

Some startups I know are so heavily reliant on funding to sustain, that the moment the funding stop, the business literally died. You would think that sales from their customers and clients can support them, but well, I guess not.

So because of my prioritisation on sustainability before scalability, I'm also not a "startup" guy.

Lifestyle

My first business (technically the fifth since the previous four all failed), Plaseed.com, a talent development consultancy, has been sustainable 2 months after starting. We don't make a lot of money from it, but it afford a nice lifestyle for Debbie, William and myself. No complaints. Sure, there are times when a delayed contract stretched the wallet, which spurred me to start the next business.

BDlabs.co is a content marketing agency that I started 18 months ago, as a secondary income when I don't have a steady cash flow from Plaseed. Afforded some of my travels too, so pretty happy with it. Plus, I've always had this affair with marketing psychology, so it's a business I enjoyed working on.

Most "startup" founders, on the other hand, would be very careful with their spending, living frugally whenever possible. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I quite admire that persistence because I lived that life for many years. Days when you Brough along your water bottle to meals to save on drinks, when you parked your car far away to shave on expensive fees, when you would be mentally stressed out when a client ask to meet him/her at Starbucks, and you felt obligated to buy them coffee. #ouch

But I don't want to go back to those days unless it's necessary. I want a slightly better standard of living.

So by that definition, I'm again, not a "startup" guy.

Scalability

The last thing my businesses are build on, is scalability. Sure, it's "replicatable", and if you give me $100K I will know how to grow the team and grow the revenue, but not necessary on profits. Having a bigger team can enable you to get in more deals and service more clients, but at the same time, it can also mean higher overheads, more management, and less freedom too.

So I made a conscious choice early on to grow a business without hiring anyone. Everybody is an associate, the rest are outsourced. No office, no fixed costs, no unnecessary commitments.

But for startups, investors want them to be scalable - across markets, across verticals, across borders. Heavily reliant on technology (most of the time), the product/service they build must be easily deployed in any country they go to. With all systems and processed logged in a SOP, they have a culture of doing things too.

All those are things I am not interested in, maybe even slightly fearful off.

So by that definition, I'm also not a "startup" guy.

Fundability

Aside from the scalability, startups have to be fundable too. What it means is, the moment money is being pumped it, they have ready business units to be activated, departs to scale, processes to streamline.

If you ever talked to my accountant and tax consultant, Ben, as much as a good friend that he is a financial advisor, he'll never invest in my companies. Heck, looking at the P&L, even I won't be dumb enough to invest in my company! High expenses, low profitability, no real documented SOPs (hey, it's only me).

So by that count, I'm also not a "startup" guy.

But wait, if I'm not a "startup" guy, does it automatically meant I'm a traditional biz guy? Don't you just hate those kind of "If-not-this-then-you-must-be-that" situations. Where's the grey areas, dude?

I like to think I'm somewhat in the middle, and more aptly put, a Lifestyle Entrepreneur.

If Jay ever got to unghost himself, maybe I'll give him that answer.

What about you? Which guy/girl are you?

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