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I do not know Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht but maybe we think the same. I do not care about the fact that my startup "NoID" is taking on giants like Microsoft with our secure email server solutions. There are so many examples of small and nimble startups winning that to me it is a sensible business strategy. I am old enough to remember the humble beginnings of both Adobe and Microsoft. "Giants" are not born that way. Of course many startups fail, but one look at a high street will demonstrate how traditional bricks and mortar businesses fail too.

As far as I am concerned success is as likely as failure and I have always been a "glass half full" guy.

My advice to anyone considering it, look at all the risks and threats, continually monitor and mitigate them whilst running as fast as you can at the next step, then the next step and the next ... Good luck.

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That is very true. I think it is David Hieatt (founder of howies, Hiut Denim and The DO Lectures) who uses the example of a startup being a speedboat which can easily turn this or that way whereas a big corporation is like a cruise liner who takes a lot of work to move even a few degrees. The challenge is how to keep aspects of that maneuverability (i.e. ability to innovate) when you start growing.

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