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"Look at Club Penguin, acquired for $700M, all because they focused an "unsexy" niche." I believe all the club penguin founders had children so I'd say it prob
by callmeed 17y ago
"Look at Club Penguin, acquired for $700M, all because they focused an "unsexy" niche."
I believe all the club penguin founders had children so I'd say it probably qualified as an organic startup (in the sense pg uses the term)
- gruseom 17y agoI actually know something about this! My son's best friend's mother's sister's best friend (hmm, I think that's right) is the wife of the guy who started Club Penguin. He started it because he couldn't find anything good for his daughter to play at online. So yes, it was a classic organic startup. It matches the description in another way, too: no one would take it seriously. He tried to get the guys at the ISP he worked for to buy into it and they wouldn't. It was only once it took off with children that anybody gave it the time of day. When something proposed as a counterexample turns out on inspection to be a classic case, I consider that pretty good evidence for a model.