3 ms·

Are any of them profitable, in the DHH sense?

by dcurtis 19y ago

webwright 19y ago
Can you explain how "profitable" is different than "DHH profitable"? :-) 37s didn't invent profitability (or simplicity for that matter).
- kingnothing 19y ago
  Clearly profitable was the right word, but I think he meant to ask how many companies have profitable revenue streams versus those that have money in the bank from being invested in or bought out.
- kirubakaran 19y ago
  What if the question was rephrased like this: "Among the profitable startups, how many 'got the eyeballs first and monetized later' and how many went for the profit-first model?" (latter was termed by grandpa comment as "DHH profitable")
mpc 19y ago
I'm pretty sure Wufoo is in the DHH/37sig sense.
- henning 19y ago
  What about SnipShot? $9/month for premium features.
webwright 19y ago
In a lot of cases, rapid growth is incompatible with NEAR-TERM profit (but not necessarily revenue). It's hard to concentrate on both. A company can generally grow faster if it takes on investors and plows any revenue back into growth... I think most investors (YC included) are most interested in meteoric growth (or whatever path is going to lead most swiftly and reliably to a BIG liquidity event of some kind). Going for a lifestyle business and eschewing investment rarely gets you there quickly (if at all). I love Wufoo (and I'd certainly put them on the relatively short list of YC companies that I truly envy), but I think they are leaving some growth "on the table". I think 37s is, too. Not that there's anything wrong with that-- it's just not necessarily "investor-friendly".
SwellJoe 19y ago
I believe we (Virtualmin) qualify for that definition, though it'll be another few months before it's on the same order of magnitude as 37signals (we currently make thousands, they make millions...but once we've worked as long as they have we'll be doing fine). Though our end goal is a bit more ambitious than the 37signals guys (by some definition of "ambitious").
pg 19y ago
Yes, a number of them are. I don't know the exact number, because we don't have this info in all cases, but I've heard from several groups that they're now profitable.

Are any of them profitable, in the DHH sense?

by dcurtis 19y ago

Are any of them profitable, in the DHH sense?

Can you explain how "profitable" is different than "DHH profitable"? :-) 37s didn't invent profitability (or simplicity for that matter).

kingnothing 19y ago
Clearly profitable was the right word, but I think he meant to ask how many companies have profitable revenue streams versus those that have money in the bank from being invested in or bought out.
kirubakaran 19y ago
What if the question was rephrased like this: "Among the profitable startups, how many 'got the eyeballs first and monetized later' and how many went for the profit-first model?" (latter was termed by grandpa comment as "DHH profitable")

mpc 19y ago

I'm pretty sure Wufoo is in the DHH/37sig sense.

henning 19y ago
What about SnipShot? $9/month for premium features.

webwright 19y ago

In a lot of cases, rapid growth is incompatible with NEAR-TERM profit (but not necessarily revenue). It's hard to concentrate on both. A company can generally grow faster if it takes on investors and plows any revenue back into growth... I think most investors (YC included) are most interested in meteoric growth (or whatever path is going to lead most swiftly and reliably to a BIG liquidity event of some kind). Going for a lifestyle business and eschewing investment rarely gets you there quickly (if at all). I love Wufoo (and I'd certainly put them on the relatively short list of YC companies that I truly envy), but I think they are leaving some growth "on the table". I think 37s is, too. Not that there's anything wrong with that-- it's just not necessarily "investor-friendly".

SwellJoe 19y ago

I believe we (Virtualmin) qualify for that definition, though it'll be another few months before it's on the same order of magnitude as 37signals (we currently make thousands, they make millions...but once we've worked as long as they have we'll be doing fine). Though our end goal is a bit more ambitious than the 37signals guys (by some definition of "ambitious").

pg 19y ago

Yes, a number of them are. I don't know the exact number, because we don't have this info in all cases, but I've heard from several groups that they're now profitable.