What EnLab is Not

On December 9, 2012, the business entity known as EnLab was born as an LLC. Our beginnings were as inauspicious as any other startup or small business. I began this business without much of a clue about what I actually wanted to do, other than knowing that I didn’t want to work for anyone else any more.

With that in mind, I began with web development and consulting as a “solo-preneur.” As fate would have it, I ended up going down a long path that led me here, and I outlined that path in my previous post, Song of an Entrepreneur’s Soul.

Rather than explaining that path, I want to flash forward to today. Our company has grown to just under ten people, three of whom are founders. The three of us are very proud to have made it this far, and it is all due to the vision we have for the future.

That said, I find it difficult to share that vision when someone asks, “What is EnLab and what do you do?” The question is direct, but it also generalizes. Everyone who asks follows my answer with “Oh, I get it, you’re like X company or Z Inc.” My response is always “yeah, but no,” and I leave it at that.

I’ve had enough of it, though, because people then make assumptions based on that association.

So here is my line in the sand. We won’t be put in a box.

What EnLab is not

• A startup. Sure, in a general sense we are. But we are more in the mold of Jason Fried and DHH’s Basecamp. We share their vision of building a stable company. EnLab is a holding company in which to place many small bets and to seek investment in the companies we spin off from it.
• A SaaS company. Our first product, due out soon, is web based and a service, but we will not be put in this box. We won’t be put in any box unless it’s a TARDIS, because that would be cool. We will be building for many platforms. SaaS is traditionally thought of as web services, so I refuse to be labeled that way.
• An app studio. I have often described EnLab this way because it makes our model easier to understand. But we aren’t backed by someone with a lot of money. We are bootstrapped and hungry. Recently I’ve tried to “fork” the term into development studio, and while that fits perfectly, it leads to the last box.
• A web development studio. This is the last box we’ve been put in, because of that switch to “development studio.” It’s understandable that someone would think this, but my reaction was always, in my head, “that’s what this used to be.”

With all of this going back and forth, I decided it was better to just say who we are by our name. It’s more ambiguous, but it keeps us out of these boxes. You may be wondering now, though.

What is EnLab?

We are a distributed development lab. We have people all around the world working on products together. We are also a holding company for future startups and products, and a place for aspiring entrepreneurs to see their ideas through, using our development talent in exchange for a little equity.

We believe great ideas come from everywhere and should be brought to light to change the world. Since this is our direction, we also won’t be put in a box on our model. We reserve the right to experiment and try new things. Our name is EnLab because I believe life is about learning, assessing new data and acting on it. One could say life is spent in the lab, or EnLab.

People can keep their unicorns. This economy is driven by tiny empires.

A footnote: I’ve been hearing a lot more talk about hustle culture lately, and you can read my take on it here. Thanks again to the folks at Basecamp for being a voice of reason in the crazy and seemingly unsustainable world of startups.