Why startups may not be so startling

My business partner and I met with our accounting firm recently for our six-month checkup and the prognosis was abnormal. Most startups, we were told, should be having a harder time of it than we are, especially one presumptuous enough to launch during a recession.

But wait. Upon further review, how unusual are we? I’ve read that about half of the 2008 Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 started up during a recession. So what might be going on here? Could it be that the very act of becoming a successful startup requires breaking away, an act of separation that brings new value to the marketplace? And could it be that for any company to establish momentum, it must continue to behave as a startup while cultivating its own distinctive identity? That, after all, is an observation we can make regarding our own B2B clients, that innovation must flow from an articulated knowledge of core capabilities, aligned with the often unarticulated needs of customer segments. It’s a communication problem ultimately, to establish internal reality before it can become external reality.

That said, there’s a lot of advice out there for CEOs and other business leaders who are looking for ways to grow their companies. As for us, if we are fortunate and careful, we will be a startup for decades to come.