What you’ll learn to do: Discuss how to hire for a start-up culture and environment

There are small businesses, and there are start-ups. Is there even a difference?

You hear the word “start-up” a lot in the technology field, and there’s a reason for that. A “start-up” is a small company that’s looking for a scalable and repeatable business model. Technology companies innovate a new product, and they’re looking to take it from something that’s been created in their garage to something that reach the far corners of the earth. They aren’t necessarily sure how to do that, but part of their business model is to show off that new technology and look for something or someone (like an “angel investor”) that can help them to that scalable, repeatable, next step.

A small business, on the other hand, is creating a business model that will work for the company from day one and continue to sustain them as they grow. There’s less innovation involved, and in fact, business models are often copied from other successful businesses in the same industry.