Startup Profitability Debate

The cluster focuses on discussions about whether startups and high-growth companies should prioritize immediate profitability or reinvest revenues for expansion, with debates on sustainability, business models, and examples like OpenAI and Twilio.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Startups & Business
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Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#5207
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Keywords

www.cnbc AFAIK GAAP OK ipo.html VC profitable profit profits revenue growth company money unprofitable business startups

Sample Comments

steve1977 May 10, 2023 View on HN

It’s still a startup if it’s not profitable yet ;)

saalweachter Jan 5, 2018 View on HN

Don't forget that the company isn't profitable yet.

ajcarpy2005 May 6, 2014 View on HN

Startups need to be profitable too.

zeroxfe Jun 12, 2018 View on HN

They're a business that's not yet profitable. It's not that complicated.

tim333 Dec 11, 2025 View on HN

Yeah, and how long can OpenAI etc. hang on without making profits.

dsugarman Aug 25, 2016 View on HN

It's hard to understand what companies mean when they say profitable these days.. maybe they meant gross profit positive or profitable on unit economics?

InterestBazinga Aug 30, 2018 View on HN

Interesting. I thought start ups are commonly not in profit

smilliken Nov 25, 2013 View on HN

Exactly, these companies aren't profitable yet.

moreorless Apr 24, 2012 View on HN

Please explain why it is bad for a growing company to turn a profit?

jimbokun May 19, 2009 View on HN

I assume that is because they are still pursuing growth over immediate profits. I imagine that they could easily be profitable at these revenue levels if they were to just keep enough staff around to keep the servers running, for example. In other words, with that much revenue, I think the only reason not to be profitable is because they think they can be even more profitable by continuing to accelerate growth, for now.