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# Startups and growth
- URL: https://werd.io/startups-and-growth/
- Published: 2012-09-22T18:28:46.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T11:00:38.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: Web, #ben-684a32da145d7d001be71dae, amy hoy, business, patrick mckenzie, paul graham, startups, venture capital, y combinator, #Migrated-1749693130536, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-06-11 21:52

Y Combinator founder Paul Graham's essays are invaluable if you want to be a part of the startup ecosystem. His latest, [Startup = Growth](http://paulgraham.com/growth.html), is required reading, and defines, once and for all, the difference between a "startup" and a "new business":

> \[...\] Starting a startup is thus very much like deciding to be research scientist: you're not committing to solve any specific problem; you don't know for sure which problems are soluble; but you're committing to try to discover something no one knew before. A startup founder is in effect an economic research scientist. Most don't discover anything that remarkable, but some discover relativity.

[You should read the whole essay over here.](http://paulgraham.com/growth.html)

What's important to remember is that this is one model - you don't have to go the Y Combinator / venture capital route if you don't want to. If there's one thing I learned at [XOXO](http://benwerd.com/blog/2012/09/17/xoxo-crafty-makers-from-the-future/), it's that a lot of people are earning a living in a lot of ways: there's many routes to covering your costs, living a sustainable life and doing what you love. [Patrick McKenzie](http://www.kalzumeus.com/blog/) and [Amy Hoy](http://unicornfree.com/) are worth paying attention to here - as is virtually every [successful technology project on Kickstarter](http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/technology/most-funded?ref=more).