Not only the article doesn't answer the question in the title, it doesn't even attempt to support the premise. Instead, it's just a book ad.
As for staying small, how are you going to pay the politicians to enact regulations that cement your position in the market?
Honestly, as I've gotten older, I just don't have a lot of respect for companies that are simply chasing growth for the sake of growth and monetization just for the sake of monetization. I don't think people realize when enough is actually enough.
I think one of the worst things a company can do is go public (outside of industries and niches that simply require large players). It just seems to ruin the quality of a company's products, services & culture.
I know we can't all live in Mayberry, and that people don't really pay for quality, but when your sole objective boils down to pleasing Wall St. quarter after quarter, something gets lost in the process.
Being a part of something that you take pride in used to mean something. Craftsmen and inventors weren't necessarily looking for a seven figure exit (or more), or to become billionaires. They wanted to make the lives of their customers better.
I think we all suffer in different ways because of this growth-at-all-costs mentality, from the top all the way down.
Sonos just replaced their CEO after a series of product debacles that had their users up in arms. Over the summer I looked into buying Sonos and even previously happy users were saying, "Stay away, stay far away, either look into alternatives or wait and see if they're going to sort this out."
I decided to wait and see, and months later I heard that they're replacing their CEO: promising! But then their CEO said this in his first letter to employees, and I lost all hope:
> what really gets me up in the morning is the idea that we can expand the Sonos platform well beyond “out loud audio at home.”
Seems like adios to Sonos as a good product, and I guess I have to look at those alternatives now.
The problem is that Sonos patented synchronising speakers over WiFi. So replicating the quality of their earlier products might be illegal now.
Whenever a service I use goes public I start looking for an alternative. That is, without a doubt, the best indicator of impending decline.
That and being bought by PE firm.
Amen!
I've worked at multiple lean companies that were purchased by bigger public entities. Without fail, the "problem" the company existed for moves from delighting customers to financial engineering.
Since going it solo, it's been amazing how satisfying a job/business can be once you get a sense of what "enough" is each month. I find that going the extra mile for customers, even when you aren't getting directly paid for it is incredibly rewarding and knowing when I've made "enough" each month allows me the time to do this.
Don't get me wrong, I went hard in the first few years to build up some buffer, but it's amazing how powerful and enjoyable building goodwill is, and how it pays for itself down the line.
The book has some interesting ideas (which you'll mostly be familiar with if you're following the microisv/indiehacker/solopreneur communities), but stretches the "company of one" concept to breaking point, at some point invoking teams in facebook, etc. The term basically gets redefined as "individuals, teams or orgs that the author likes".
A more descriptive title would be something like "the minimalist entrepreneur", which is actually a title of another book on the same theme by Sahil Lavingia of Gumroad.
The book is full of interesting stories and presents a counterpoint to the "default" VC-backed growth-at-all-cost startup. If you haven't been exposed to the indiehacker/soloprenur ideas, a useful read even if you don't take that route (same for Sahil's book I mentioned).
Started a company with a partner 7 years ago. 2 person company, £1M ARR (took a while to get there). The best part is all the things we don't have: Stand ups, backlog grooming, annual reviews, unnecessary meetings, HR department and all its associated asshattery. Hope this is the last "job" I ever need, I don't think I can go back.
It's fun to be part of big things that can make big changes as well. The ability to organise and bring other people up behind me as I was brought up into this business is also cool. Not as fun day to day, but I like being able to look back on the progress a big ship can make.
I'm on year 13 of running businesses of one (I built an audience development platform and an educational/fundraising platform, plus a handful of smaller ones). On the plus side, I'd say that it has been pretty easy to maintain margins and keep cost under control. It's also easy to stay under the radar of larger competitors. On the downside, I think acquisitions would have been easier if I had a team in place and higher revenue, even with lower operating margins. Last year, my revenue fell a bit and I've considered looking for a more traditional job, but it has been harder than I expected because I believe my experience may not fit a traditional job description. Still, if you can swing it, I would very much recommend it, but good to consider the downsides as well.
The book’s thesis seems interesting: get more by focusing on doing quality work, launching and maintaining the right products, and factoring your lifestyle.
However, this article just misses the mark completely and starts arguing against “growing too fast” without specifying why. Made me not wanting to read it.
I think companies (especially new ones like startups) with stay small, because they have to, not because they want to. They have to because it’s getting harder and harder to build something that will appeal to a wide market. The only alternative is to niche down as much as possible.
Which ultimately means smaller businesses
Profit/person is the only metric that should grow.
The article is crap but there is a known major hurdle scaling from 1-2 people with 1-2m in revenue to 10+ where it have to bring in administrative support people that aren’t being fully utilized that causes large profitability problems. I think the next major hurdle is scaling post about 60 people and then again past 350.
The military has this figured out and they organize accordingly.
It really also depends on the country and lots of other factors.
small businesses have that benefit!