This is a good point, but begs the question, why is it necessary to start a new company (and depart the previous one) to pursue these ventures?
I'm sure I'm just oblivious to some legal, financial, etc. benefit of building separate company "entities" for each project but personally I prefer the idea of starting the next General Electric than a string of noun-deprived orphan companies.
Keeping your name associated with the trail you leave behind keeps you honest; perhaps this is what Steve was getting at?
And as anyone who runs their own business can tell you, that requires your complete attention. You can't just start a business and check out once things are going well, or they stop going well surprisingly fast.
I think it's possible to do this with one company. A good counter example to Elon Musk would be Richard Branson: he did music, mobile service, airlines, and space travel.
Those are not a single company. They are separate entities that license the Virgin brand. Branson will start them up then move on. Its like a franchise model but with a few very large franchisees.
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Another example would be Elon Musk who would still be doing Zip2 instead of giving the world PayPal, SpaceX or Tesla Motors.
This is a good point, but begs the question, why is it necessary to start a new company (and depart the previous one) to pursue these ventures?
I'm sure I'm just oblivious to some legal, financial, etc. benefit of building separate company "entities" for each project but personally I prefer the idea of starting the next General Electric than a string of noun-deprived orphan companies.
Keeping your name associated with the trail you leave behind keeps you honest; perhaps this is what Steve was getting at?
And as anyone who runs their own business can tell you, that requires your complete attention. You can't just start a business and check out once things are going well, or they stop going well surprisingly fast.
http://paulgraham.com/prcmc.html
I think it's possible to do this with one company. A good counter example to Elon Musk would be Richard Branson: he did music, mobile service, airlines, and space travel.
Those are not a single company. They are separate entities that license the Virgin brand. Branson will start them up then move on. Its like a franchise model but with a few very large franchisees.
Focus. Some people are able to do more than one company at a time, but I certainly can't.
Separation of concerns? :)