Comments on GT VentureLab: Business Models to Avoid

Great check list.I'll offer another for considerat...

2008-11-26T00:09:00.000-05:00

Great check list.

I'll offer another for consideration: "We will grow big, get acquired, and then they will figure out how to monetize us."

The basic idea is this - "I don't know how to make money, but hopefully someone else will... and will be willing to pay too much for it."

Possible titles:
- The Sellout
- "non-business" business
- The Legend of the Corporate Giant
- The Internet Model

Ichisan

Great point Scott. I don't have a problem with mul...

2008-11-25T10:01:00.000-05:00

Great point Scott. I don't have a problem with multiple revenue sources/models, but until you're up and running, this can be quite distracting - and debilitating with some entrepreneurs. Focus is everything when you're launching.

If I was talking to a potential investor, I would tell them the best model, and then mention we have others we can fall back and would be happy to discuss those in detail when the time is right.

Hey Paul - good post. I agree with all you've sai...

2008-11-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

Hey Paul - good post. I agree with all you've said, with one small caveat about "spaghetti".

I actually think it is better for a startup to have more than one way of making money. In fact, without that element in place, the deal's risk profile goes way up for me.

However, I will say that multiple revenue streams is different than multiple business models. Multiple models is terrible - but multiple sources of revenue within the same larger business model is good.

Cheers.
Scott