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Well most of those 2000 companies are not doing exactly what they set out to do and/or are doing a lot more than one idea. Yes there are far more than a few th

Well most of those 2000 companies are not doing exactly what they set out to do and/or are doing a lot more than one idea. Yes there are far more than a few thousand good teams out there in the whole world.

ikeboy 9y ago
As a first cut, "copy X's business model" for some company on the list is a proven billion dollar idea (whether it's possible to do as a startup is another story, but this is order of magnitude anyway.)
- danieltillett 9y ago
  I can't think of any startup that has become a billion dollar company by copying the business model of an existing billion dollar company. Targeting the markets and customers of existing billion dollar companies is often a good idea, but you need to have something new to succeed.
  - ikeboy 9y ago
    Lyft? Vox Media? DraftKings? Oscar? Honest Company? Wish? All are billion dollar companies founded in the last several years, and none have new business models, as far as I know. They may have small tweaks, but no two companies are identical - I think it's fair to say most of these companies simply copied a business model and executed very well. You can probably quibble with some of those, but not all.
    - danieltillett 9y ago
      I think we can rule out lyft given how much money they lost last year, but more importantly because they started out as a long distance ride sharing business (zimride in 2007). Vox media started out as a sports blog in 2005. I don't think there were any billion dollar fantasy sport companies back in 2012 when Draftkings started. Oscar and Wish I am not sure as they are impossible to search for. I am not sure which billion dollar company The Honest Company copied. Sure you can grow into a billion dollar company by copying the model of an existing large company, but I don't know of any startups that have grown to a billion dollar by starting out just copying an existing billion dollar company's model without bring something new to the table.
      - ikeboy 9y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Health https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2017/09/20/wish-8-billion-funding-amazon/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2017/09/20/wish-8-bi...
        danieltillett 9y ago
        Wow on Wish. This is one massive company that I have never heard of. I am not sure what existing billion dollar company was based on exploiting reciprocal international mail delivery, but clever never the less. Oscar has done nothing but lose masses of money propped up by investors, but we might actually have one. They don't appear to be doing anything different to the other insurance company, although the other insurance companies do make shiploads of money which I guess is a point of difference.

ikeboy 9y ago

As a first cut, "copy X's business model" for some company on the list is a proven billion dollar idea (whether it's possible to do as a startup is another story, but this is order of magnitude anyway.)

danieltillett 9y ago
I can't think of any startup that has become a billion dollar company by copying the business model of an existing billion dollar company. Targeting the markets and customers of existing billion dollar companies is often a good idea, but you need to have something new to succeed.
- ikeboy 9y ago
  Lyft? Vox Media? DraftKings? Oscar? Honest Company? Wish? All are billion dollar companies founded in the last several years, and none have new business models, as far as I know. They may have small tweaks, but no two companies are identical - I think it's fair to say most of these companies simply copied a business model and executed very well. You can probably quibble with some of those, but not all.
  - danieltillett 9y ago
    I think we can rule out lyft given how much money they lost last year, but more importantly because they started out as a long distance ride sharing business (zimride in 2007). Vox media started out as a sports blog in 2005. I don't think there were any billion dollar fantasy sport companies back in 2012 when Draftkings started. Oscar and Wish I am not sure as they are impossible to search for. I am not sure which billion dollar company The Honest Company copied. Sure you can grow into a billion dollar company by copying the model of an existing large company, but I don't know of any startups that have grown to a billion dollar by starting out just copying an existing billion dollar company's model without bring something new to the table.
    - ikeboy 9y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Health https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2017/09/20/wish-8-billion-funding-amazon/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2017/09/20/wish-8-bi...
      - danieltillett 9y ago
        Wow on Wish. This is one massive company that I have never heard of. I am not sure what existing billion dollar company was based on exploiting reciprocal international mail delivery, but clever never the less. Oscar has done nothing but lose masses of money propped up by investors, but we might actually have one. They don't appear to be doing anything different to the other insurance company, although the other insurance companies do make shiploads of money which I guess is a point of difference.