

Crunchies Winners: Twitter Takes Best Startup Of 2010 - EJE
http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/21/congratulations-crunchies-winners-twitter-takes-best-startup-of-2010/

======
btmorex
These would have been far more interesting if they focused on newer, less
established companies and products. Everyone already knows exactly what
Twitter, Facebook, and the iPad are and no one cares if they win awards.

~~~
electromagnetic
What I was thinking when I read the title "Uhh, twitter didn't start in 2010".

A well established company (IE surviving the first 3 years where most
companies fail miserably) is not a startup. It may behave as one, it may act
as one, but if it doesn't have the massive impending doom of simply being a
brand spanking new company, then it's not a start up.

By the logic demonstrated here, I vote for best startup for 2011 to be Apple.

------
richcollins
Awards for startups seem silly

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzPfKI4b-dg#t=4m27s>

~~~
btipling
I've been feeling down in the dumps all day, depressed about life in general,
and I've just discovered thanks to you that watching videos of Richard
Feynmann cheer me up. Thank you.

~~~
richcollins
I have trouble watching them because they always make me feel like I'm wasting
my life :-(

------
Aaronontheweb
Doesn't it seem somewhat passe to give the award to someone as well-
established as Twitter?

~~~
dkasper
Well Facebook had won it for the past 3 years (which happens to be every other
year the Crunchies have existed), so I wouldn't say it's that unexpected.

------
leftnode
I think it's ironic 37Signals is listed under the Best Enterprise category.

~~~
uptown
Agreed. Context for anyone that may have missed it:

<http://twitter.com/#!/dhh/status/27434483292573696>

------
locusm
and second place went to Microsoft

~~~
whatusername
I hear IBM came third. (At 99 years old they squeaked in). They almost had as
much revenue as Apple in 2010. Nintendo (at 123 years old) is no longer a
startup and is no longer eligible.

~~~
ugh
Damn you, sir! You sent me on an awesome trip looking around for the oldest
companies.

Few are older than a few centuries, most are Japanese (others are European),
small and restaurants, hotels or breweries. All are fascinating.

~~~
whatusername
I too have undertaken this trip in the past. A fascinating journey, albeit one
to avoid while you face pressing deadlines. :)

------
haecib
I really think they need to define 'startup'. I don't think that word means
what they think it means...

------
EJE
original title was for PG/Y Combinator as "Angel Investor of the Year", but
the title was changed...

~~~
EJE
it changed automatically

------
iam
Kinect didn't win best device? How disappointing, since it was the only
actually novel thing on there.

------
nhangen
Well deserved. If it weren't for PG and YC, I wouldn't know half of what I've
learned as a result of stumbling onto Hacker News.

~~~
nhangen
Why did the title of this thread change since I've left my original comment,
which was in regards to PG and YC winning Angels of the Year?

------
kordless
Wife said to me this morning, "Wait, didn't you sign up for Twitter in like
2007? They're not a startup!"

------
ddemchuk
I'm sorry, but WHAT?!?!

1) They are not a startup. They're over 4 years old. They have officially
passed the starting phase

2) They have not monetized since graduating into the big boy businesses phase.
Riding the coattails of VC's for years with no clear plan to reach
profitability is not business

3) They are instable as hell. They crash nearly everyday, with millions of
dollars in the bank, hundreds of engineers working for them, and 4 years of
development under their belt, and they have a frickin meme because of how
instable they are

4) They've stopped innovating. Nothing new has come from twitter in the last
2+ years other than their API. 140 character messages, we get it.

Blatant buzz word fanboyism is still running amok apparently.

~~~
fredoliveira
I'm going to do something I dislike and play devil's advocate. You're not the
only one here saying that Twitter is no startup, and while I agree with that
assessment to a certain extent, you've pretty much described a startup with
your points. A startup is no longer considered being a startup if they become
profitable (twitter isn't), is acquired or merges into another entity (twitter
hasn't) or becomes public (which twitter hasn't either).

Is twitter a startup? Yes. Would giving the prize to some other company be
more interesting? Definitely. These competitions are often not fair, but
honestly, who are we to judge?

