I don't want to be a startup. I want to be a company

Every time I say "we're building a product", someone asks the same question.

"So you're a startup now?"

No. And I've stopped apologising for it.

A company designed to become something else

As I understand it, a startup isn't just a young company. It's a company designed to become something else. Bigger. Much bigger. Fast. The plan isn't to be profitable next year. The plan is to grow until someone buys you, or until you're big enough for profit to be someone else's problem.

For that, you need fuel. Usually other people's money.

And other people's money comes with a clock. From the day the money arrives, you're working towards the next round, or the exit, or the moment you have to explain why neither is happening.

I'm not saying it's wrong. For some ideas, it's the only way. If you're building something that only works at enormous scale, you need enormous money.

We're not building that. And I don't want that clock.

A round doesn't buy you time. It puts a clock on you. Clients' money has no rush.

The company that doesn't count

What I want is less exciting to describe.

A small company. Profitable. That pays its people, pays for its own products, and doesn't owe anyone an explanation for growing slowly. That can say no to a client, a feature or an opportunity without asking a board.

In startup world, a company like that doesn't count. It's a "lifestyle business", said with the same tone you'd use for a hobby. Nobody writes articles about companies that are quietly fine.

I find that funny. Because from where I stand, quietly fine is a very ambitious goal. Most companies, funded or not, don't get there.

Why this is personal

We started with 300 euros and no one to ask for money. I didn't have contacts. In my family, nobody had run a business. There was never going to be a round.

So you could say I'm making a virtue out of necessity. Maybe I am. I suspect a lot of convictions start that way.

But even now, with products starting to take shape and the services paying the bills, I wouldn't change the order. The services pay for the product. The product, if it works, pays for freedom. Nobody in between asking when we'll be bigger.

Wanting to be the biggest is the fastest way I know to lose your freedom. Every step towards "biggest" is a step towards needing someone else's money, someone else's approval, someone else's timeline.

I'd rather own something small than work for something big that happens to have my name on it.

So no, we're not a startup.

We're something much less fashionable.

A company that intends to still be here.

P.S. If you're an investor and you've read this far: thank you. Please don't send a term sheet. I wouldn't know where to file it.