I wrote a while back that I thought we’d start to see companies enshrining independence in their charters and business models. I now have my first, best example: Ghost!
The opportunity to build scale businesses with really small teams has never been bigger. I expect we’ll see more teams commit to independence when they figure out that they don’t need VC funding, or when they’re in a market that just can’t support VC-type returns.
There’s something else that Ghost has going for it that’s even more important: it has also enshrined customer alignment in its charter and business model. Ghost has taken a well-trodden open source model (sell the services and lock in your customer) and blown it open by giving their customers full ownership of the whole technology stack.
The businesses that get me the most excited these days are the ones that are super-aligned with their customers. They don’t just talk about it, they put it in their business models. They either build a great product, and continue to build a great product, or they die a quick death. Lambda and Earnin are great examples. Ghost is taking it to the next level.
UPDATE - Another one: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ehrs/don-t-go-public-and-don-t-do-deals-here-are-epic-s-13-guiding-principles.html