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Well the problem with something like that is that when you think about it the Ubers and airbnb's of the world would never have made it in Austin based on those
by trustfundbaby 11y ago
Well the problem with something like that is that when you think about it the Ubers and airbnb's of the world would never have made it in Austin based on those criteria. Thats a bit of a problem for me and the city in a way, because when people think "startup" they're thinking more about stuff like that and less about the pragmatic "show me the money" software businesses that Austin tends to fund ... and even at that, not very much.
- clavalle 11y ago> Ubers and airbnb's Uber and airbnb were not profitable right away but their mechanism for making money couldn't have been clearer. Uber -- sell rides, get a cut. Airbnb -- sell places to stay, get a cut. These were not 'let's get a bunch of users and see what happens' kind of deals. That's exactly why Homeaway and SpareFoot got funded. Still a hard problem building that two sided marketplace and reaching profitablity...still a risk. But the mechanism for making money couldn't be clearer. A better example would be Waze. Offers great value but how how do you capture that in terms of profit for the company? Waze would probably not have been funded. But it worked out since they were acquired. But counting on getting acquired is a sure way /not/ to get funded in Austin. The business has to stand alone.