Startup Styles Cheat Sheet
After years of interviewing startups on The Dredger TV and lots of reading, here’s my summary of the three major startup styles.
Know your poison, pick your poison.
| Rework (Jason Fried) | Lost & Founder (Rand Fishkin) | Zero to One (Peter Thiel) |
| Artisanal SaaS – Intentionally small | Enterprise Software | Hyperscale Platform – Requires rapid growth |
| No VC | VC Backed – Not Optimistic | VC Backed – Highly Optimistic |
| Not Selling – No Pressure to Exit | Faster Exit Better | Never Sell When You Can Get Bigger |
| Flat Organization – Full Remote Work Possible | Requires C-Suite to Function. Office in Major City. | Global Footprint. Prominent Founder. |
| Work Calmly | Corporate | Cult |
| LLC / LLP | Private Limited going to Public Listed | Public Listed |
| Simple Product – Simple Pricing | Multiple Product Offering | Multisided Platform |
| Profitable from Year 1 | Modest Profit After Achieving A Certain Scale | Go Big or Go Home. Profit Only Possible by Market Monopoly |