HOW IT ALL STARTED: A SHORT HISTORY OF MODERN START-UP CULTURE

HOW IT ALL STARTED?

A SHORT HISTORY OF MODERN START-UP CULTURE

By Adam Hasan

Last year, over 4 million businesses were started in the United States alone. Compared to 2010’s 2 million figure, there is a monumental increase. This isn’t exclusive to America but is happening globally. It seems like everyone is launching a new start-up or opening up a small business. There has been a shift in the workplace and more and more people are ditching the traditional path in favor of a more exciting and volatile one.

To understand that shift, and what it means for the future of the business world, we have to define two important key terms. The first is small medium enterprises (SMEs), and they are privately owned and operated companies that are limited in size and revenue. The second is startups, which are companies or projects undertaken usually by entrepreneurs to seek, develop and validate a scalable economic model.

While both of these terms might seem to overlap in certain cases, there exists a distinct factor that differentiates between start-ups and small businesses; disruptive innovations. Start-ups work to create new markets while disrupting old markets. An example of that is what ride-sharing services have done to revolutionize the transportation industry. We can use that factor to try and pinpoint the first start-up in modern history.

There is debate among scholars but the majority will agree that Ford Motor Company is the first startup in modern history. Back in the 19th century, cars were luxury items and used as status symbols. The invention of the Ford assembly line in 1913 disrupted the automobile industry by utilizing new technological advances to manufacture affordable cars for the common man in an efficient and fast manner. From that point of time, many start-ups began popping up, one notable example is HP. Based in Palo Alto, HP became the first (but certainly not last) Silicon Valley based start-up. The history of Silicon Valley and start-up culture is interwoven and begins at the dawn of a new industrial revolution. Industrial revolutions are pretty self-explanatory, they revolutionize industries and create massive change in economic and social structures. The first was the invention of the steam engine, the second was the utilization of gas and oil as fuel sources, the third was the use of nuclear energy, and now we are in the fourth internet age.

Popularized in the late 90s and early 00s, the internet has taken over the entire world and disrupted countless industries. Companies like Microsoft and Google, which began as start-ups, saw an opportunity for creating new markets on the internet. They were right, and many others followed suit when evidence of the success appeared.

Silicon Valley became a hub for innovation, often technological. More and more start-ups were launched there, among them Amazon and eBaby, and they found success. Innovation became synonymous with Silicon Valley. The word businessman started to evoke images of a tech start-up founder in a grey hoodie instead of a college graduate in a suit and tie.

Start-ups didn’t just affect industry, they invaded popular culture.

The Silicon Valley start-ups followed a simple formula: 1. Find a problem. 2. Figure out a solution for said problem. 3. Market that solution.

4. If your product/service is viable, then aim for rapid growth. If not, repeat steps 1 to 3. With each news article about another start-up founder who launched his business in a garage becoming a millionaire, the public shifts their image of start-ups from being

“risky ventures” to “the new mainstream”.

The internet accelerated that process by streamlining every step of the process of launching a start-up. From using social media to market your business to using crowdfunding platforms in lieu of traditional banking loans. The glass ceiling has been shattered. Innovation leads to more innovation. We are witnessing technological advancement at an unprecedented rate, each one bringing its own mini-industrial revolution that will accelerate innovation even further. The future has already arrived with renewable energy, advanced artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency taking over entire industries and this has been further proven by the COVID-19 pandemic which showed how traditional workplaces and jobs are becoming relics of the past. To thrive and succeed, one must learn from the past. The people who oppose change and pretend it isn’t happening are always proven wrong. The best time to create a start-up was twenty years ago. The secondbest time is now.