

Ask HN: Which startups are you most envious of? - twidlit

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

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mindcrime
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.

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trafficlight
I'm envious of any space startup that actually has working hardware. Scaled
Composites, SpaceX, Armadillo, and Blue Origin are all super exciting.

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mindcrime
_I'm envious of any space startup that actually has working hardware. Scaled
Composites, SpaceX, Armadillo, and Blue Origin are all super exciting._

Can't argue with that! I named Scaled Composites mostly because I'm more
familiar with what they've done than I am with the others. But that's not to
take anything away from the other space startups, for sure.

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Cyph0n
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).

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

So is that SpaceboX - synchronize files between spaceships and Earth?

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Cyph0n
You just gave me a better idea. Thanks.

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

2\. Kiva.org - very effective and very practical

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

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

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

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abbasmehdi
Khan Academy and Groupon.

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nurik
AirBnB

