Musings at Altitude

As I watch my little granddaughter, I can’t help but compare a baby in its phases of growth to a startup business.  Bear with me as I make these comparisons:

(1) both babies and startups begin with some form of plan that then leads to early concept formulation, incubation, and then birth; during this phase, both are nourished through a lifeline to the parent or founder

(2) once born, both babies and startups primarily eat, sleep and poop; they consume resources, cry when things don’t occur immediately as they want and need them to occur, and are carried around and mostly dependent on others for both nourishment and growth

(3) after some time, both babies and startups form personalities, and they begin to smile and to laugh as things fall into place, and they react to the stimulus that occurs around them

(4) after more time, they both begin to get some strength in their structures as babies start holding their necks up and sitting up and startups start gaining some confidence and find courage in their growth path

(5) eventually, babies start walking, at first falling down a lot and then eventually establishing that balance that comes from knowing trying over and over again; startups are exactly the same – they first fall down a lot and then find balance from trying time and time again

I could actually go on for quite a while in this comparison, but I’m sure you got this point long ago!  We’ve all heard many times, “this is my baby” when referred to companies.  Those that say that aren’t far from reality!