This reminds me of the question, "Do we live to eat, or eat to live?" To a business, money is like food. Without food, you can't live. But is eating the primary goal of your life?
Similarly, a business (but especially a startup) exists primarily to change the world, to disrupt an industry, or simply to do something in a better way. To do that, it needs to make money. Sometimes due to its pioneering nature, it makes an extraordinary amount of money. But its primary goal isn't to make money.
But I agree with the article that startup founders shouldn't be shy about making money. Startups should be realistic - without making money, they can't achieve their goals.
Similarly, a business (but especially a startup) exists primarily to change the world, to disrupt an industry, or simply to do something in a better way. To do that, it needs to make money. Sometimes due to its pioneering nature, it makes an extraordinary amount of money. But its primary goal isn't to make money.
People do startups for a variety of reasons, one of which is maybe to make money. But like Evernote's CEO Phil Libin has said, it's not an easy way to make money: http://thenextweb.com/video/2012/04/27/evernote-ceo-phil-lib...
But I agree with the article that startup founders shouldn't be shy about making money. Startups should be realistic - without making money, they can't achieve their goals.