Want to start the Next Google?

I ran across a post with the intriguing headline "Want to start the Next Google?" You can read that post yourself, but what occurred to me is how important it is to deeply understand what you want your new venture to feel like. Sure, some businesses may be focused on venture capital and the [over-]exalted IPO and others intended on selling out to Microsoft or another "big" company, but where exactly do you see your venture going? A lot of ventures simply fail or languish, but given your druthers, what is it you really want out of your business?

Are you really focused on the money? Is it the prestige? Is it the power? Maybe is it the perks? Are you simply trying to avoid the mad-house rat-race of a "big", impersonal company? Or maybe do you actually have a "mission", a "vision" of delivering something of value to society far beyond any product or service that some existing company might offer? Or maybe you're simply interesting in providing your employees with a productive, stimulating, but healthy work environment.

It's really an open-ended question, but well worth considering.

-- Jack Krupansky