· February 18th, 2013
For an entrepreneur, if it is possible to make it better, she must make it better. If it is possible to make it more accessible, she must make it more accessible. If it is impossible to make it better or broader, she innovates.
Starting a great Italian restaurant is not entrepreneurship because the proprietors make no attempt to scale it. Running McDonald’s is not entrepreneurship because they make no serious attempt to build a better product. Apple is an entrepreneurial venture because it is in the business of delivering ever-increasing quality at higher scale.
There is no tradeoff between quality and scale
Quality measures how far a product advances the customer. Scale measures how many people use it.
For entrepreneurs, there is no tradeoff between quality and scale. The job is to do both—not one or the other. If it can’t be done, you innovate.
Quality without scale is not entrepreneurship—it is a tree falling in the forest with no one around.
Scale without quality is also not entrepreneurship—it is business as usual. And it leaves businesses exposed to competitors who steal its customers (and, worse, employees).
Anyone who attempts to serve a customer at a new level of quality and scale is an entrepreneur. Anyone who does not, is not.
If you’re interested in helping entrepreneurs never reach the finish line, AngelList is always hiring engineers and designers.
Related: Startups are here to save the world
Topics Philosophy