Ask HN: Which startups are you most envious of?

by twidlit on 9/7/2011, 6:19 PM with 12 comments

This could be a good exercise on what motivates us and how founders view other founders...

  • by BrandonMTurner on 9/7/2011, 9:52 PM

    Square

    1) They solved a really hard problem. Basically they opened channels for merchants that used to only be able to take cash to credit cards. I have already used this twice on the consumer end. Once at a concert to buy a tshirt, once a cupcake food truck downtown.

    2) They did an exceptional job of design in both hardware and software.

    3) They had a real vision on their own, 'Apple Style' where they saw the problem and had a vision to a real solution. They didn't have to make a MVP and keep iterating (not that doing that is a bad idea) but have a vision that turns out to be true is always very impressive to me.

    4) They executed in a exceptional time period. They had everything in place from from engineer to design and operation in the amount of time other startups take to make a webapp that is much less as sensitive (read: involves larges of amounts of money in a traditionally slow industry).

  • by mindcrime on 9/7/2011, 6:32 PM

    Of companies that are still in "startup mode" it's hard to say. Of recent (or semi-recent) startups that have achieved success, or some degree of success:

    1. Tesla Motors - because they build sweet products and have a CEO who I admire.

    2. Facebook - because they've made their founders a metric buttload of money, and have impacted millions (if not billions) of people around the world.

    3. Scaled Composites - Because they're on the forefront of doing something amazing... making space-travel dramatically more practical and accessible.

  • by Cyph0n on 9/8/2011, 2:05 PM

    Square, before anything else. I literally had a startup-gasm after the website was fully loaded.

    After that, I'd say SpaceX, for making private-owned space travel a reality, and then Dropbox, for revolutionizing (in a way) the way we synchronize our files between devices.

    The last two will (hopefully) be a basis for my future startup(s).

  • by twidlit on 9/7/2011, 6:41 PM

    1. Tesla Motors - going after the throat of (harmful) giants

    2. Kiva.org - very effective and very practical

  • by ahsanhilal on 9/7/2011, 9:38 PM

    I guess it depends on what stage of startup you talk about.

    Early-stage: Pinterest and Instagram Growth stage: Tumblr Late Stage: Zynga

  • by teletele on 9/9/2011, 10:45 AM

    I would have been envious of Groupon if they sold to Google for $6 billion. Now? Not so much.

  • by abbasmehdi on 9/7/2011, 8:31 PM

    Khan Academy and Groupon.

  • by nurik on 9/8/2011, 2:13 PM

    AirBnB

  • by avjinder on 9/7/2011, 6:28 PM

    Square and Dropbox.