Startup Earnings or Winnings

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Last month a friend asked me what types of projects I was working on besides the Atlanta Tech Village with my winnings. Hmm, I thought, not saying it out loud, but isn’t the cash from selling a company more earnings instead winnings? Luck is an important part, but so is hard work and timing. Thinking about it some more, I have a few thoughts:

Winning the lottery is much more in the luck and randomness category, but to win you still have to put yourself out there and play the game
Working without a salary, or at a greatly reduced salary compared to market rate (sweat equity), is one of the many sacrifices to build a successful startup, making money gained from an exit that much more earned
Calling it earnings makes it that much more sweet as there’s a sense of making something great that the world chooses to buy, and then seeing the resulting value created

Does it matter whether it’s called earnings or winnings? No. As an entrepreneur what do I prefer? Earnings.

What else? What are your thoughts on startup earnings or winnings when describing a good monetary outcome?

Comments

8 responses to “Startup Earnings or Winnings”

September 17, 2013

John Melonakos (@melonakos)

For entrepreneurship, “earnings” is the best term.

In terms of other English words sometimes used, “windfall” is probably somewhere in between “winnings” and “earnings”, for something that isn’t gambling but still has a high-element of luck involved.

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1. September 23, 2013
  
  Craig Allen
  
  entrepreneurs want to win, so maybe winnings is best ……
  
  Reply
September 17, 2013

Joe Koufman (@GumboShowJoe)

Frankly it seems like sort of a turd thing to say… The reality is that you built a business and sold it. I am sure the comment was tongue and cheek, but to me it demeans your hard work.

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September 17, 2013

Sai Reddy

Well said, I’d prefer the term earnings as well. I believe selling your company proved to anyone that sacrifice and hard work can pay off greatly !!!

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September 18, 2013

Ray Carroll (@raycarroll55)

Winnings leads me to think that luck was involved or you placed a bet. If you built a plan and executed, you earned it – plain and simple.

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September 18, 2013

Christian Dodder

I see the winning analogy like sports. It takes the right team, many levels of leadership / coaching, preparation, hard work, execution, and yes luck! But I love the winning analogy!

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September 19, 2013

jmgrah

Only someone who hasn’t been there could possibly describe a successful exit from a startup as a “winnings” event. This is money earned in many cases through taking on massive amounts of risk, stomach ulcers, night sweats (when you get to sleep), broken relationships and at times sheer terror.

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September 19, 2013

felixc933

Naturally, earnings sounds a lot better given the sweat involved in a startup. And if a startup sells an incredible valuation (perhaps beyond what would be expected based upon its prospects) then perhaps some of it could be called “winnings”. 🙂

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