4 ms·

Which most likely meant the startup was a feature or a product, not a company with a viable business model.

• imron 8y ago
  Being bought/aquihired by Google/others seems to be a business model several companies aim for.
  • sullyj3 8y ago
    A lot of the time they have enough in house talent to not need to
    • imron 8y ago
      That doesn't stop other companies seeing it as a viable business model.
  • ucaetano 8y ago
    That's not a business model for the company. But it is for the investors.
• hueving 8y ago
  Gmail is free. Does that mean email service is not a product? Why does fastmail exist?
  • Tom4hawk 8y ago
    Because there are people (like me) who value their privacy/data.
  • ucaetano 8y ago
    It is free for consumers, not for organizations. Gmail for consumers doesn't have a business model by itself, but it fits into Google's larger business model.
• worble 8y ago
  What it actually means is that google has more money, so they can muscle their way in with cheap/free offerings that are as good or better as the competition, kill it and then hike prices.
• Scarblac 8y ago
  If it wasn't a viable business model, Google wouldn't move into the space. It's just that they first use their infinite pocket money to kill off all the competition, then switch to making money.
  • ucaetano 8y ago
    > If it wasn't a viable business model, Google wouldn't move into the space. Wrong, maybe that "space" (feature or product) goes well with Google's business model, but wouldn't support a viable business mode by itself.