One reason I don't sign up with every new startup that comes along--even if they're innovative and helpful and better than the competition--is that I don't want to invest time in something that could fail. And every time I see a web service fail, even if it was no longer a startup, I lose hope that good services can last. Seeing this, for example, I'm not likely to put stock in an online bookmarking startup any time soon.
It seems to me like this is one way that the failure of large companies can lead to the failure of unrelated startups. And it sucks.
It varies. I'd be lying if I said mood wasn't involved. But I ask questions like:
1. How responsive are the startup founders when I e-mail
them about problems?
2. How portable is the work I'm going to put into the
site? Data portability is actually probably my number
1 concern.
3. Does the service give me value that I couldn't
create with my own server after an hour of coding?
(Why would I sign up for yet another contacts service
when I can host my own LDAP server for free?)
4. Is there a vibrant community supporting the startup
from the get to?
In this case, yes. But not for all types of startups. When I say I won't "put stock" in another bookmarking service for a while, I don't mean I won't use one. I mean I won't use one like I would if I thought it was a permanent, reliable fixture.
It seems to me like this is one way that the failure of large companies can lead to the failure of unrelated startups. And it sucks.