
We've raised a $5.6M Series A from Union Square Ventures and Flybridge - _pius
https://www.firebase.com/blog/2013-06-20-firebase-series-a.html
======
prayag
These guys, they are amazing entrepreneurs. I don't say that lightly. Read
about James and Andrew story in Haiti here [http://darineich.com/startups-
beanbags-earthquakes-and-fires...](http://darineich.com/startups-beanbags-
earthquakes-and-fires-the-james-tamplin-story/)

~~~
dirkk0
Thanks for the link, I didn't know about this story - I just received an email
from James and now I feel even more honored. I am doing quite a lot with
Firebase these days and this makes me want to use it even more.

Come to think of it, this surprises me.

------
tptacek
Trivia: Chip Hazard is also one of the VC "bad guys" in Phil Greenspun's
writing about the downfall of Ars Digita:

[http://waxy.org/random/arsdigita/](http://waxy.org/random/arsdigita/)

 _Edit: I have no idea if that actually means something; it 's just a name I
remember from Greenspun's writing._

~~~
programminggeek
Chip Hazard is a great name, like something out of a 90's PC game, like Duke
Nukem or something.

~~~
larrys
Another one I like is "John Hummer" from Hummer Winblad.

A memorable name can be an important asset. It can be a branding if it makes a
strong positive impression. Of course like anything lacking one can be
overcome once you gain a reputation. [1]

I know someone whose last name is "Bogus" believe me nobody ever forgets that
name.

[1] Fred Wilson, Paul Graham

------
programminggeek
I find it amazing that a company can get over $5 million without yet charging
for their product. But then again, they kind of just did get people to pay for
their product, just not customers/end users...

~~~
beat
The investors clearly see a payoff down the road. It happens, you know.

~~~
loceng
And these investors are pretty good at seeing where things are going,
understanding their value - and then supporting them to get there.

~~~
wr0ng
They're not. The baseline probability of profitability for these types of
companies is incredibly small. However, the potential profit that you might
make for any one of these companies is extremely high (usually by selling the
company, not by the company's inherent ability to turn a profit) - so invest
in multiple companies and if you're lucky the 'big one' will beat your losses
many times over.

~~~
loceng
You don't think they have more prominent wins in their portfolio than most
other VC portfolios out there?...

~~~
untog
But what is the actual amount for "more"? If it's 20% success instead of 10%
it's still not a good chance of success for the individual company.

~~~
easytiger
VC funding, to my eyes, has a huge amount in common with Horse Racing.

------
mathattack
"Albert was the only investor we pitched who immediately made a Firebase app"

Now that's kind of cool for a VC!

~~~
pg
He's one of a tiny minority of VC partners who actually write code. His site
is [http://continuations.com](http://continuations.com).

~~~
gailees
VCs code!?

~~~
loceng
The wiser ones seem to be developers themselves, creative problem solvers - at
least at one point.

~~~
beat
Many are former developers/entrepreneurs. Now they're VCs.

Maybe they wised up? :P)

~~~
loceng
Ha. Well, it's a natural progression I feel if you're an idea person - you end
up with too many ideas than you could ever do on your own, so instead you can
support teams that are highly passionate, and working on problems you
(hopefully) understand.

------
guiseppecalzone
This is an incredible team.

The reason why I love seeing this is because these guys fall squarely in the
category of work hard, iterate for years and get rewarded. This wasn't an
overnight success. Rather, it's the result of an extremely smart team
committed to making something great. I'm really excited to see what they come
up with over the next few years.

------
anandkulkarni
Thrilled to have watched this product and this team grow to this phase. This
technology still amazes me.

Keep on killing it, guys!

------
friendstock
Congratulations James and Andrew, from a long-time user of Envolve (the
precursor to Firebase).

------
d0m
Yep, very happy for you guys. If I wasn't working on my own stuff, Firebase
would clearly be the very first startup I'd apply to work with.

------
apapli
Congratulations team!

Question for readers - how does an individual get to become an investor in
these sorts of rounds? I note Union Square led this round, but there's no
place for me to register my interest in funding similar projects on their web
site (nor most other VCs from what I can tell).

Is it a case of hanging out with the right people and have $1m plus to burn
(which I don't) or is there another way?

~~~
rdouble
Mostly being an accredited investor and hobnobbing with the right people

------
Kiro
I love Firebase but I don't see how I could build a serious web app without
server-side logic. How do you for example handle validation?

~~~
mikelehen
We let you define server-side logic (for security and validation specifically)
using our Security Rules API:
[https://www.firebase.com/docs/security/security-
rules.html](https://www.firebase.com/docs/security/security-rules.html)

------
michaeldwan
This is great news. I think we've only seen the beginning of what these guys
are building.

------
badclient
I like this investment a lot more than andreessen horowitz' Meteor investment.

~~~
imslavko
Well, why?

------
X4
Firebase tried it so hard. Had opensource competitors and they still
succeeded. Let this be a lesson to everyone else.

 _To a firebase hater, I know someone indirectly, whose product you bought and
silenced. No good move, sir._

------
larrys
Nice marketing on their web site.

(Need to update the investor page though, currently not showing USV./)

[https://www.firebase.com/about.html](https://www.firebase.com/about.html)

~~~
anant
Fixed :)
[https://www.firebase.com/about.html](https://www.firebase.com/about.html)

------
nateps
Congrats! Glad to see you ended up with such excellent investors, and will be
looking forward to continued improvements in Firebase! Looking forward to more
progress making all web apps realtime.

------
lancewiggs
I'm interested in the pricing decision. How big is the market for apps that
are popular but free or unable to support the higher prices? I wonder if any
thought went into a plan for them?

~~~
benologist
They have a free plan, the onus is on you to stay within those limits or
upgrade.

------
atjoslin
Yay! Just started using Firebase on a new project of mine a couple weeks ago,
and loving it. I'm glad to see it's certain to be lasting :-)

------
dakrisht
Congrats guys, haven't heard of your platform before, definitely trying your
real-time chat API shortly.

Looking into how your product compares with Parse...

~~~
gailees
Parse + Firebase == Unstoppable

~~~
dakrisht
Wow what a combo.

------
jhchrist
I heard that Flybridge was unable to raise money for another fund and that
they're "on fumes."

------
rusyasoft
How about backend of Firebase? Can you guys tell something about it ? (Just
Curious :)))

------
acjohnson55
Are people mostly developing full sites on Firebase, or just mini-apps?

------
ozgune
I love what these guys are doing and their technology. Congrats guys!

------
dataisfun
Way to make me feel stupid for missing the seed :)

------
brandonb
The Firebase team is amazing, congrats to them!

------
yesimahuman
Congrats guys, that's a lot of cash!

------
gailees
Backends are a thing of the past.

------
gailees
Hell yeah :)

~~~
gailees
Loving the iOS SDK. That's 100% the way to go. Parse for real-time apps.

------
rmanalan
Awesome job guys! Congrats!

------
rmorrison
Congrats!

