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I think you're misinterpreting Joe Kraus. I've seen him do his "Startup Addict" presentation twice now, once at Startup School and once at a YC dinner, and in neither instance did I come away with the impression that he meant you have to start making money immediately.

The meaning I took from this "business model in beta" statement was, "you have to be willing to admit you don't understand how you're going to make money; be willing to evolve the business model based on what you learn after launch". Which seems entirely consonant with what pg has said.



Quite possibly I am. I thought he was saying this after not releasing his premium account types for JotSpot initially and getting different feedback than he would from people actually willing to pay.


I'll buy that, too.

Anyway, I think the "beta" aspect of that statement is "try it and see, and change it if it's wrong". If your business model is "everything is free and I hate ads", then you'll soon find out that it's wrong. ;-)

It also ties into Kraus' favorite saying: You make what you measure.




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