Many long-term investors in Tesla’s $TSLA

“Start-up company” – Very long

Many long-term investors in Tesla’s $TSLA stock seem to think Tesla is a big startup company. I’m one of those investors.

I don’t know if I remember correctly, but CEO Elon Musk also said at one point, “Tesla is a group of xx startup-like business units.”

What is a start-up company? This question is a question that requires thinking about what a start-up is.

Startup is said to be a term that began to be used in the US startup ecosystem and has become widely used worldwide. In Korea, it seems that startup companies are treated in the same context as venture companies, and there seems to be no significant distinction.

The start-up that I think of in Korea is a new small and medium-sized company that has just been established. In other words, it is a start-up that falls into the category of SMEs. Here, what is the image of a start-up? It reminds me of a company that develops new technologies such as IT, bio/pharmaceuticals, and aerospace and applies them to businesses.

It is said that the start of SMEs is academically divided into livelihood start-ups and opportunity-type start-ups. In the case of the livelihood type, it is literally defined as a small and medium-sized enterprise established as a means of livelihood, and in the case of the opportunity type, it is defined as a small and medium-sized enterprise established for any self-realizing purpose or goal that precedes the reason because it is a means of livelihood.

Here, SMEs are sometimes classified into technology (innovation) start-up companies and non-tech start-ups depending on whether they have innovative technologies, unlike the distinction between livelihood and opportunity types, which can be classified into industry classification according to the general Statistics Korea standard industry classification. However, there is a part where technology and innovation are equated, but in fact, assuming that technology and innovation can be completely different, this distinction is also ambiguous.

For reference, in Korea, the standard is usually based on the number of years established/opened in defining small and medium-sized start-ups, which may vary depending on the laws of each government department and affiliated institution, but a company established within ~3 years or ~7 years is called a start-up company.

Then, what is the definition of a venture company? It should be defined as a company itself with venture characteristics, but in Korea, this can also be recognized as a venture company only if it meets the requirements stipulated in the ‘Venture Enterprise Special Act’. No matter how much they say they are a venture company, if they do not have a certificate of a venture company in Korea, they will not be recognized as a venture company.

Venture companies were revised by Kim Byung-kwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, a few years ago and are now extended to mid-sized companies as well as small and medium-sized companies, and requirements to be recognized as venture companies include receiving investment from venture capital, receiving a certain grade from the Korea Technology Guarantee Fund by a technology innovation evaluation model, or participating in government-supported R&D projects.

However, a venture company is a word that applies the term venture (adventurous, high-risk, but presupposed compensation) created from some point in the age of navigation to a company. In other words, a venture company is a company that runs an adventurous business, so it means a company that has a high risk but can receive compensation (through growth). If so, justice and venture companies under domestic laws and regulations will not fit well.

In fact, the purpose of being defined as a venture or technology innovation start-up company at home and in many foreign countries is to create and foster new industries in the country, to provide a driving force for economic development, and to create quality jobs for the people. Therefore, the main purpose of defining them is to provide some kind of financial and non-financial support.

In the case of domestic venture companies (including innovative start-up companies, etc.), the reason why they are working to recognize them through government agencies and quasi-governmental agencies is because the purpose is to support them. In fact, venture companies can enjoy tax benefits and benefits such as additional points for bidding by the Public Procurement Service, additional points for government R&D tasks, non-taxation of stock options, special cases for establishing corporate-affiliated research institutes (which are also closely related to corporate tax), and attracting venture capital investment invested in parent funds.

Ha, Ji, Man! What we can’t help but doubt here is whether we can really think of it as a startup company that feels real, whether it’s a venture company, an innovative technology company, an early opportunity-based start-up small business in year zero, or whatever it’s called.

I don’t think so at all. I’ve been meeting and interviewing representatives of ~4,000 small and medium-sized domestic venture companies in the financial sector for a little more than a decade, starting with my major job where I don’t know what it is, and conducting their corporate evaluation.

Start-ups, what is this essentially?

If you deviate from the perspective of support by a specific subject and look at the company itself, something clears up a little. In other words, it means to look at the purpose of the founders and start-up members of the company.

seizing business opportunities to make big money, being able to peak in certain fields, for the purpose of my livelihood, etc. To this end, there is something ambiguous if you use any excellent technology to establish a company and run a business.

To summarize the purpose and mission of start-ups of various start-up founders at home and abroad, their early investors, and companies that the public already thinks they are start-ups,

This conclusion is reached without excluding the size and year of the company.

“What kind of problem consciousness in the world did you start to solve it?”

In order to predict and solve problems with the world, or problems that may arise, the organization is established in the form of a for-profit company, which is a form suitable for the capitalist market system, and to solve the problems it has captured by using it as a means. This is a startup.

The more difficult and difficult these problems become, the more time, effort, and more difficult technology are needed. In other words, it can be said that a start-up can be maintained for 10 or 20 years.

There’s something called Lin-Startup Business, which has caused Boom in Korea for a long time, and I understand this