[rattray]

There's more to "the basement" than keeping it small, I think. There's also the aspect of dreaming; of shooting for something really, really big & exciting. There are a few businesses that scale without growing the size of the team much, but it's still extremely hard. For the most part, either you stay small and lose the ambition-excitement, or you get big.

Personally, I'm really not convinced that one is better than the other.

[JoeAltmaier]

The dreaming is important. I'm now in a startup past the phase of "changing the world" and into "finding any small market to keep us afloat". The excitement is definitely gone. I find myself buying a coffee, taking a walk, pretty much anything to avoid actually getting to work in the morning. Because once there I'm doing little that anybody will care about. Except our investors of course.

[machinshin_]

if you're that unhappy, why not leave?

[JoeAltmaier]

Stock. Inertia. Loyalty to co-workers. The usual.

[tejon]

I think optimally, if you like the basement and your business is growing out of it, you sell it to someone else who likes big, and find yourself a fresh basement.