First, I realize this is controversial. 
Iāve been building a company for the last 4 years that I intend to run for the rest of my life. All decisions I have made in the company were made with the extreme long-term in mind. No short term decisions, ever. My company reached $100K+ ARR this year and likely will be 5x that by next year.
I have launched a number of side projects and business in the past 20 years. Some alone, some with a partner, some with a troop of partners. Some worked out, some flopped early, some created okay side income for a while.
Iāve also been an employee of a startup that received venture capital investment and that was eventually sold to private equity and then sold yet again. Maybe this explains why I am so forthright on skipping all of that and just deciding to build a company I can run for the rest of my life.
I have witnessed the exact benefits, consequences, changes, and impacts some of the largest PE companies in the US have on a thriving company. Some good things. Some bad things. I see both sides
But ultimately, this experience gave me confidence that I donāt need large investors to create something very valuable.
The downside to creating a lifetime business is that it takes longer to get off the ground and may be more risky since you have to leverage all of your time into a single undiversified company (at least to start) over a number of years.
Some reasons people DONT create a lifetime business in my opinion is because:
- they donāt have the knowledge to continue to scale forever whether it be in the existing industry they are in or launching into adjacent industries
- they need investment because the market tech risk is too competitive to go slow
- VC investors just did too good of a job selling their services for a piece of the pie
- the founder wants to be able to exit a business to minimize or at least equalize some risk so that they can walk out of the door with at least some money
- or they simply donāt want to run a business indefinitely.
Iāve made these decisions and realizations:
Isnāt this just a ālifestyleā business, you ask
? Of course 
, but I believe the longevity of this lifetime lifestyle business Iām building will outcompete any other business in this industry in the long-term and future adjacent industries/niches as I expand outward. Especially with a singular focus on the extreme long-term.
Something I like to ponder is how would the lives of clients and employees be improved if this was the case in every business today? If every business, service, and product was built for the long-term only instead of short-term āhitting quarterly goalsā type of thinking. I firmly believe the world would be a better place with more long-term thinking.
Someone could offer me $100 million
tomorrow for my company and I honestly wouldnāt sell it. Iām building for the fun of it and Iām setting every single process along the way up in a way that ensures it always stays fun.
Building for the long-term really fires me up, if you couldnāt tell.
Anyone else doing this? Building a company with the intention of running it forever with 0 intent to ever sell?
Iām doing it alone, but it could but done with cofounders too, if all are on the same page.
Iāve been building a company for the last 4 years that I intend to run for the rest of my life. All decisions I have made in the company were made with the extreme long-term in mind. No short term decisions, ever. My company reached $100K+ ARR this year and likely will be 5x that by next year.
I have launched a number of side projects and business in the past 20 years. Some alone, some with a partner, some with a troop of partners. Some worked out, some flopped early, some created okay side income for a while.
Iāve also been an employee of a startup that received venture capital investment and that was eventually sold to private equity and then sold yet again. Maybe this explains why I am so forthright on skipping all of that and just deciding to build a company I can run for the rest of my life.
I have witnessed the exact benefits, consequences, changes, and impacts some of the largest PE companies in the US have on a thriving company. Some good things. Some bad things. I see both sides
But ultimately, this experience gave me confidence that I donāt need large investors to create something very valuable.The downside to creating a lifetime business is that it takes longer to get off the ground and may be more risky since you have to leverage all of your time into a single undiversified company (at least to start) over a number of years.
Some reasons people DONT create a lifetime business in my opinion is because:
- they donāt have the knowledge to continue to scale forever whether it be in the existing industry they are in or launching into adjacent industries
- they need investment because the market tech risk is too competitive to go slow
- VC investors just did too good of a job selling their services for a piece of the pie
- the founder wants to be able to exit a business to minimize or at least equalize some risk so that they can walk out of the door with at least some money
- or they simply donāt want to run a business indefinitely.
Iāve made these decisions and realizations:
- Slow is fine since pivoting is always an option and I have had to do this several times over the last few years
- I donāt want cofounders or partners for the rest of my life, so if I am building a company for the rest of my life, then Iāll go at it alone.
- If I donāt have to split profits with anyone and I have extremely low overhead, itās literally not possible to compete with me. Especially if nearly everything is automated. Thereās no incentive for others to compete because I could essentially accept the lowest margin of any competitor. I realize this may sound arrogant, but in this niche industry I am (currently) in, I am an expert.
- Since Iām building for life, I donāt cut any corners or incur any tech debt. This creates a VERY strong foundation for the company. Not only do I not incur tech debt, but I donāt incur financial debt either. No debt, no investors.
Isnāt this just a ālifestyleā business, you ask
? Of course , but I believe the longevity of this lifetime lifestyle business Iām building will outcompete any other business in this industry in the long-term and future adjacent industries/niches as I expand outward. Especially with a singular focus on the extreme long-term.Something I like to ponder is how would the lives of clients and employees be improved if this was the case in every business today? If every business, service, and product was built for the long-term only instead of short-term āhitting quarterly goalsā type of thinking. I firmly believe the world would be a better place with more long-term thinking.
Someone could offer me $100 million
tomorrow for my company and I honestly wouldnāt sell it. Iām building for the fun of it and Iām setting every single process along the way up in a way that ensures it always stays fun.Building for the long-term really fires me up, if you couldnāt tell.
Anyone else doing this? Building a company with the intention of running it forever with 0 intent to ever sell?
Iām doing it alone, but it could but done with cofounders too, if all are on the same page.