Seems like there are only two ways to go forward with a startup:
1) Shoot for flipping and acquihire. This is where most folks are going. It probably makes the most sense for an early 20-something
2) Stay off the radar because you are uncool, using old tech, doing something stupid, the market's not big enough, or so forth. Bootstrap. Don't do a lot of PR. Don't get attention, because there are a ton of big companies full of guys who ran successful startups who are looking for cool things to work on -- if you don't look the right way, they'll just run over you and do it on their own.
The game-changers like Uber or Facebook probably start out in category 2 and then have such incredible momentum and execution intelligence that by the time they're noticed, it's too late for followers-on. That's a most tricky maneuver to pull off.
(Note: I know nothing about startups except having a few that didn't pan out, talking to friends online that have some, working in SV, and reading a lot about them. I have as much chance of telling you something useful as the psychic hotline. This is tough stuff.)
1) Shoot for flipping and acquihire. This is where most folks are going. It probably makes the most sense for an early 20-something
2) Stay off the radar because you are uncool, using old tech, doing something stupid, the market's not big enough, or so forth. Bootstrap. Don't do a lot of PR. Don't get attention, because there are a ton of big companies full of guys who ran successful startups who are looking for cool things to work on -- if you don't look the right way, they'll just run over you and do it on their own.
The game-changers like Uber or Facebook probably start out in category 2 and then have such incredible momentum and execution intelligence that by the time they're noticed, it's too late for followers-on. That's a most tricky maneuver to pull off.
(Note: I know nothing about startups except having a few that didn't pan out, talking to friends online that have some, working in SV, and reading a lot about them. I have as much chance of telling you something useful as the psychic hotline. This is tough stuff.)