The Two Faces of Entrepreneurship

There are two types of entrepreneurship. One aims to make money for investors. The other aims to extract money from investors. If your intention is to deceive investors, the core strategy is telling a good story.

1. Target

Avoid seasoned professionals. Search those customers who have cash but short on due diligence. These investors often fall for trending, high-concept jargon. The more buzzwords and complexity, the better — it spikes their adrenaline.

2. Expand

Scale fast to generate hype and attract a second round of investment. Once your early investors see paper profits, go heavy on the PR. Momentum is everything in this game.

3. Recruit

Hire highly educated talent with impressive resumes and salaries. It signals prestige and success. Their high salaries justify yours — and everyone looks credible from the outside.

4. Plan

Eventually, orchestrate a “falling out” with the major shareholder. Use it as a reason to exit gracefully, sell your shares, and land safely. The narrative will paint you as the misunderstood visionary.

What Real Entrepreneurship Looks Like

Real entrepreneurship isn’t even called entrepreneurship; it’s just business. Why are there so many glamorous tech startups? Because they scaled, solved real problems, and built something sustainable. People romanticize tech startups that burn cash early on. After all, many Internet companies didn’t turn profits in the beginning. They focused on user acquisition, believing that user volume had future value.

When the investment world caught on, internet companies with huge user bases saw valuations skyrocket, even if their core product wasn’t generating real revenue.

The Trap of Vanity Metrics

Today, the formula is reversed: some startups use real cash to buy fake growth. They spend aggressively on ads and traffic — not to create value, but to boost their valuation. These businesses are hollow. They’re built to raise money, not generate profit. This isn’t entrepreneurship. It’s a house of cards.

Start With Real Business

If you’re serious about starting something, start with a real organic idea. Begin small. Solve practical problems like logistics, product design, user experience, marketing, and team dynamics. Nail the basics. Don’t chase the label of entrepreneur. Chase value creation.