Wednesday, July 22, 2009
- startups require government money to succeed
It is possible that in a particular sector like life-sciences, or space exploration startups without strong financial backing (including government funding) might not get off the ground. However the vast majority of successful startups, including companies in these high risk sectors, have made it on their own, or with the backing of small time investors. The majority of internet companies (google, facebook, twitter) all started out with little or no private funding, and certainly no government funding. Going back further, the same can be said of the earlier IT companies like Microsoft, Apple etc. Even further, the Wright Brothers beat the world to human flight without any external funding whatsoever. This is especially remarkable since governments around the world were simultaneously funding various ventures to accomplish the same goal. Clearly government funding, or even funding at all, is not essential for startup success. It seems to me that entrepreneurial drive and individual brilliance are much more necessary requirements.
