“I just read about a company that is on its third pivot. When is enough is enough?

The founder is young and sharp. He’d be a valuable asset at any other tech company, but he can’t seem to throw in the towel.

Some pivots, of course, work.  Path is a great example.  So are Fab and Turntable. But most don’t.

So what’s a smart, young entrepreneur to do when they realize their startup is failing? When should they call it quits and crawl back to corporate America? Or at least to someone else’s successful startup?

The Gowalla founders took heat for getting acqui-hired by Facebook and shutting down the product. But really they were smart.  They knew Foursquare had crushed them and they joined one of the best companies in the world.  They weren’t afraid to realize they had “failed.” Part of being business savvy is knowing how and when to make that incredibly tough call.

“Failures” are inevitable and they’re a good thing. They’re what make the startup world tick. If startups didn’t fail, others wouldn’t survive. A Facebook cofounder said if the company had been started today it would have been toast.  It wouldn’t have been able to hoard enough necessary talent because everyone wants to have their own startup now.

There are a lot of pivots going on; a lot of talented people are working on small ideas that will never become big businesses. At some point (soon) they will run out of cash and have to ask themselves,  Do I keep trying to force a company or do I temporarily lay my entrepreneurial endeavors to rest?

While we’re not trying to encourage quitting, more founders should ask themselves tough questions. Maybe it’s time to help someone else make their dream really big. Tomorrow’s companies depend on it. Plus that corporate experience could be what makes your next startup a success.”

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/when-you-should-quit-being-an-entrepreneur-2012-1

…and may i add that timing plays a big part in determining whether your start-up grows into a full fledge business or not. There ‘re a gazillions of variables at play; sometimes it’s Okay to lay low for the moment to come back later. If it’s your passion you don’t have to worry about not doing it later, do you?

I guess another view point is about the ecosystem. When everyone rushes to build their own start-ups, at one point competition will lead to inefficient allocation of resources (think VC’s funding another group buying site just because it’s the flavor of the month). In the context of Singapore, resources will include start-up talents as well (technical or otherwise). With a small domestic market where resources are scarce, how can we alleviate the health and wealth of the ecosystem at large? These will be points to ponder.

I’m not anti-competition. In fact i believe that only with healthy competition that innovation can occur. However with 70++ deal sites in a 5 million population market, will that be too much?

I believe so.