Piece of pie!

Artashes

Artashes

Administrator
Staff member
Fun question about a business mentality: would you rather own a tiny piece of a large pie or a large piece of a tiny pie?

To put it in a perspective people here can relate to, if you had two options: to be a 1% owner in a large web hosting company or a 100% owner in a small hosting company, which option would you lean toward?
 
100% owner in a small hosting company

If i had 100% ownership, i could ensure the company would grow as i wanted it to. Owning percentages in a large company is potentially more profitable, but which is more rewarding? That is up to each individual.
 
This is a good question, as it tends to create a conflict that in the sense most of us want to make a profit, yet want to be involved with the business to ensure its proper growth.

How does a person have a piece of the pie and eat it also?

When reading through this forum versus others, i get the sense the members here with hosting services have been able to find a balance between ownership and profits. On another forum i post at it can get to be dog eat dog, but here it feels like Mom and Pop style yet professional and friendly.
 
Well, I expected an answer like that, in which an entrepreneur would choose to be in control of his/her own company. However, I don't find the argument that (in case of that 1% ownership) the person would want to make sure the company is run the way they want to too strong, because if a company is doing exceptionally well and growing, clearly it isn't mismanaged. 1% of a mega brand, with all its potential flaws (as people often like to complain), is surely a lucrative offering for anyone. :)
 
Artashes said:
However, I don't find the argument that (in case of that 1% ownership) the person would want to make sure the company is run the way they want to too strong, because if a company is doing exceptionally well and growing, clearly it isn't mismanaged.
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Excellent point. Surely opened my eyes, makes great sense. It goes to show that both slices of the pie are viable.
 
I want the whole pie, small and large. Think big. Most sides have merit here, but my end goal is paying my bills and having some money left over to pursue my personal interests. If 100% ownership does that, I"m in, but if 1% accomplishes the same, I'm in there too. If I absolutely had to make that choice, I'd opt for 100%.
 
SenseiSteve said:
If 100% ownership does that, I"m in, but if 1% accomplishes the same, I'm in there too. If I absolutely had to make that choice, I'd opt for 100%.
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I should have been a lot more specific. 100% does not accomplish the same. I was trying to reference value - that 1% of a huge business is more valuable (financially) than 100% of a small business.
 
Artashes said:
I should have been a lot more specific. 100% does not accomplish the same. I was trying to reference value - that 1% of a huge business is more valuable (financially) than 100% of a small business.
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LOL - I knew what you meant Artashes. I was just being me going off on a tangent. :shh:
 
If we would still talking about pie I would go with a "a tiny piece of a large pie", but now that you said that the pie is actually a hosting company I would go then with "a large piece of a tiny pie".

The first one is maybe because I'm hungry atm, xD, the second one is - because long time ago I wanted to do this on my own, be my own boss, do something that makes me happy.
 
Some of us are also online entrepreneurs and are happy to have a small piece of a big pie, but, I like to have some control over outcome and having worked alongside some rather large businesses it can be frustrating sometimes, when your equity isn't enough to deter someone from taking, what in my opinion, is a bad method to solve a problem.

If your lifestyle allows it, mix it up a bit and do both!

I have more fun doing stuff that hasn't been done yet, but that doesn't always pay the bills and has often lost me money.

Just keep innovating and whatever you do in the best way you know how!
 
i would go with the 100% of the small business simply because if you have good knowledge in what the business specialises in then you can make it into a big business.
 
As someone that likes pie (business), I have two views and they're polar opposite.

I love the idea of the whole pie. This allows me to put whip cream on it if I want to, or add ice cream.. mmmmm.... I can do ANYTHING I want with the pie, including taking two bites and then throwing it out :)

Now, with a pie being shared at the table, and my designation being a small section of it (I only chipped in $0.10 for a $10.00 pie), I'm completely at the mercy that some other person at the table doesn't say "I'm going to slather butter all over this pie". Sure I get a piece of the pie, but do I really want it? Maybe I can resell it ;)

So keeping with the food the thought I'll expose you to my dinner arrangements with my wife :)

9 out of 10 times, what I order and what she orders are completely different. However, once the food arrives at the table and she sees my dinner, she instinctivly says that she really wants what I have, and then proceeds to dig a fork into my steak. I'm a nice guy, so she can have a piece.

Desert, we have an agreement that if we order one, we EACH order one, but agree to share it. If others are at the table, we share with them too.

I LOVE going to restaurants with 4 or 6 people and each of us order a dessert. We all get a small piece of 6 different pies - and that's really worth the effort. Yes, someone is going to take a larger piece, but you get a taste.

So, small sections of multiple pies - count me in!

I love having 100% of the pie, don't get me wrong, but the problem is if you take a few bites tonight, you might get some more tomorrow, but after that, it's pretty much trash. So you're left doing all the work of getting a pie, but you really only ate 25% of it. Was it worth it? Wouldn't it have been better to have access to a new pie slice each night - enjoy your slice, and not have to worry about consequences.

Did I go off track? :)
 
Man, you got me hungry Conor. And I can see your wife doing just that. You're a great couple. Say hi to her for me.
 
Can I just have the whole pit? No? Okay... lol

I would choose the larger piece of a small pie. Specially if we are taking in terms of company size. Owning the biggest slice makes you the boss.
 
Being the boss doesn't translate to success.
I would far prefer to have 1% of a large entity and have other people doing all of the heavy lifting.
Do you think Warren Buffet is making the day to day decisions in the companies he invests in? He doesn't. He invests in businesses he trusts to do the right thing and grow his investment.
Ownership is a vain and over rated value.
 
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