I took a class on tech entrepreneurship by a guy who started as a chemical engineer then got an MBA and specialized in finance. He would always compare business to chemical engineering -- most specifically the concept of equilibriums and breaking equilibriums.
In my mind, a company is either breaking an equilibrium or is a fluctuation as an equilibrium is forming (a wave vs. a ripple). Startups in the classical sense are supposed to be "equilibrium breakers" (at least that's an assumption of venture capital), but there's value in being a ripple, too.
It just gets problematic when you're a ripple and you pass yourself off as a wave.
In my mind, a company is either breaking an equilibrium or is a fluctuation as an equilibrium is forming (a wave vs. a ripple). Startups in the classical sense are supposed to be "equilibrium breakers" (at least that's an assumption of venture capital), but there's value in being a ripple, too.
It just gets problematic when you're a ripple and you pass yourself off as a wave.