Metaphor: a startup is a seed in a cracked sidewalk

Metaphor: a startup is a seed in a cracked sidewalk

A marginal but growing market
ignored by incumbents
is like a crack in the sidewalk,
and a startup is like a seed.

The crack gives the seed a place to germinate.

At first it's just a little shoot,
but if it keeps growing
it will eventually
push the sidewalk apart

Metaphor: government regulation is like herbicide

Corollary:
If you see a stretch of sidewalk full of cracks
with no shoots growing out of them,
it has probably been sprayed with some sort of herbicide,
like the RIAA or government regulation.

(src: Tweet: a startup is a seed in a cracked sidewalk - Paul Graham)