3 ms·

No - just the ones that focused on physical services. e.g. Notion (valued $2b) just raised an addl $50m and no major news on layoffs

newacct583 6y ago
Not even them. Amazon and Grubhub sell "physical services" and seem to be doing great. I don't know that this is so mysterious at all: Uber and Airbnb sold transportation and travel, which are two segments disproportionately affected by the pandemic. It has nothing to do with their "Unicorn" status at all. Uber is suffering for the same reason taxi cabs are. Hotels are getting pinched along with Airbnb. But taxis and hotels suffer in traditional ways, whereas startups show up on HN. But there's no "startupness" to this analysis at all.
- rswail 6y ago
  Exactly. Not all tech darlings are in the same industry. The "disrupters" disrupt oligarchic industries with stagnant business models. They don't "disrupt" the actual industry they're in. Anything travel related is going to be screwed for the foreseeable future. There will be very little international travel for at least another 6-12 months. Cross-European travel restrictions are already being talked about. The US will continue to have community transmission in their "open" states. There is no business travel. Things are moving (food etc). People aren't. Australia and New Zealand have discussed opening their travel and perhaps expanding that to the Pacific nations, which have been mostly spared due to isolation.
- eternalban 6y ago
  "We're all working for these guys now". That was the astute remark of the cafe/restaurant owner when I asked her how the business is going. (It's a lovely cafe/little hole in the wall in Brooklyn selling Brazilian fare.) She first expressed gratitude for having an understanding landlord and the arrangements they have made. "And we were already set up for delivery unlike some others", she said. I remarked "business must be good for these delivery services", to which she replied "We're all working for these guys now".

newacct583 6y ago

Not even them. Amazon and Grubhub sell "physical services" and seem to be doing great. I don't know that this is so mysterious at all: Uber and Airbnb sold transportation and travel, which are two segments disproportionately affected by the pandemic. It has nothing to do with their "Unicorn" status at all. Uber is suffering for the same reason taxi cabs are. Hotels are getting pinched along with Airbnb. But taxis and hotels suffer in traditional ways, whereas startups show up on HN. But there's no "startupness" to this analysis at all.

rswail 6y ago
Exactly. Not all tech darlings are in the same industry. The "disrupters" disrupt oligarchic industries with stagnant business models. They don't "disrupt" the actual industry they're in. Anything travel related is going to be screwed for the foreseeable future. There will be very little international travel for at least another 6-12 months. Cross-European travel restrictions are already being talked about. The US will continue to have community transmission in their "open" states. There is no business travel. Things are moving (food etc). People aren't. Australia and New Zealand have discussed opening their travel and perhaps expanding that to the Pacific nations, which have been mostly spared due to isolation.
eternalban 6y ago
"We're all working for these guys now". That was the astute remark of the cafe/restaurant owner when I asked her how the business is going. (It's a lovely cafe/little hole in the wall in Brooklyn selling Brazilian fare.) She first expressed gratitude for having an understanding landlord and the arrangements they have made. "And we were already set up for delivery unlike some others", she said. I remarked "business must be good for these delivery services", to which she replied "We're all working for these guys now".