Founder Stories

Stop Reading Startup Porn

You know it when you see it, and it’s not helping you get any better. So why are you wasting your time?

Joel Wish
Marker
Published in
4 min readSep 9, 2019

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Illustration: James Graham

MMost blogs about startups today could easily be classified as startup porn. Take an article like “When to Expand Your Business, According to This Successful Serial Entrepreneur.” The title alone should be a red herring. Instead of delivering the value premised by its title, the article offers up chestnuts like:

  • “If you already own one company and are looking to start another, you have to first master these fundamentals: a great team, customer service, sales, and marketing.”
  • “If you want to start multiple businesses, here’s something to keep in mind: You have to be self-aware.”

Something else to keep in mind: Anyone looking for practical advice about expanding their business won’t find it here. This is startup porn. And I want to offer an alternative to the Marker community, based on my experience.

I’ve started three companies. I’ve shut down one. I’ve been betrayed by a co-founder and pushed out. And yet, miraculously, that betrayal led me to sell my shares at exactly the right moment. It was an incredibly lucky outcome.

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Marker
Marker

Published in Marker

Marker was a publication from Medium about the intersection of business, economics, and culture. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Joel Wish
Joel Wish

Written by Joel Wish

3x founder, advisor, angel investor. Most recent @getSimpleHealth @frontlinefoods @parsley_health @everlywell @mindbloom. Long $BTC $DOT