Could we stop using the term "lifestyle" to describe young companies that aren't chasing the unicorn dream? A lot of them are run by very driven founders who work long hours to build world-class products for smallish niches. They don't have vacation homes in Tahoe; they don't shut down for a week to go to Burning Man.
Instead, they are obsessed with a definition of business success that doesn't involve ten-digit numbers.
There is one "lifestyle" business that's rampant throughout Silicon Valley, in spite of its efforts to deny it. This would be the bottom quartile of the venture business. It's all about picking up management fees, taking long weekends, and living large.
It's largely semantics as any small business should ideally be cashflow positive but I think the nuance here is one that you can build these businesses to scale, just without VC funding. The time horizon for growth is much longer as a result but definitely there.
Instead, they are obsessed with a definition of business success that doesn't involve ten-digit numbers.
There is one "lifestyle" business that's rampant throughout Silicon Valley, in spite of its efforts to deny it. This would be the bottom quartile of the venture business. It's all about picking up management fees, taking long weekends, and living large.