A new business succeeds by improving something that humans need or want in its market. If it brings no improvement then there's no reason for customers to change their current behavior.
Technology is a tool and it comes in many different flavors. There's the current favorite, information technology but there are others such as materials tech, processes or methods tech, biological technology, etc. All of these have one thing in common, they allow "something" to be done better than it was being done before. And, better can be a faster, cheaper, or of higher quality, and combinations of these three.
Technology delivers these improvements better than any other means known to human minds. It gives the new business or startup the foundation to exist and while technology or improved technology is no guarantee of success, no business can exist today without this foundation. So, I hypothesize that using technology, whether high or low, IS the only way to build a new business.
The only exception to this rule that comes to mind, for no-tech new businesses, are those who sell the means for people to break away from technology for their wellness... and even there I suspect, they use technologies like the internet and digital marketing to promote themselves.
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