After reading through several posts both in this group and plenty others geared towards startups/entrepreneurs/web 2.0,3.0 etc. I had some thoughts...
Having worked with a lot of startups and talked to 100X more than that, there's some very clear distinctions between the true entrepreneurial startup, and someone who just has a cool idea for a site but no business behind it.
First off, building a cool site, lets say a new Twitter application, with absolutely no revenue possibilities doesn't make you an entrepreneur. It makes you good at building sites that are "neat". Sure people might come to your site. Throw up a few Google ads, maybe make a few dollars. Really though, sustainable business? Have a growth strategy? It's easy to put on paper "our site will continue to grow at an exponential rate" and associate higher and higher ad revenues with this, but in reality, if it's that great, someone will copy it. And chances are, it's just not that great, sorry.
The get rich quick companies almost aren't worth discussion. Their blatent posts in attempts to lure anyone willing to throw money at them are laughable. It's sad to think people still get drawn into pyramid schemes and ideas of grandeur that really wouldn't take long to think about in terms of a business, and realize there's nothing there. I've often found anyone who contacts me with the more passion and enthusiasm than actual information and conceptual facts about their business, doesn't have one. It usually goes hand in hand with them talking extensively about how much money everyone involved is going to make, and that alone should be why I should or anyone should be involved. Sorry guys, I've been around the block enough times to spot you a mile away.
True entrepreneurs, these are the guys and girls that keep me going. Passion, spirit, dynamic, an actual business model, experience in the industry they are entering are just a few traits. They know how to command a team, have realistic ideas about what it takes to start a company, how long it takes to really ramp up revenues, and what expenses they'll incur.
Any thoughts? Agree, disagree, think I'm a startup snob? I'm the first one to admit I am, but when you are amongst a sea of fools, you have to have some qualifiers to find those rare few.
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