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It seems to be extremely difficult to create enough value in the programming language space to justify a startup. Most of the new languages we're seeing today

It seems to be extremely difficult to create enough value in the programming language space to justify a startup. Most of the new languages we're seeing today were bootstrapped by volunteer or hobbyist efforts. Even after these languages gain a "critical mass" in the hobbyist community, the language can still be unproven for some time (maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Clojure [for example] has much "in the wild" use yet). Programming language development is valuable because it exposes programmers to new ways of thinking about problems, but it's tough to translate that into monetary value in a world full of stable, time-tested alternatives.

MrMan 16y ago
Ok then go back to Java. What value accrued to Sun by creating and marketing Java? Sorry to use the word "startup" as I suppose it is easily misunderstood. The creation of the language and its libraries and tools was to a certain extent an entrepreneurial act, in my opinion, whether it was understood this way by Sun at the time. I am trying to ask assistance in thinking about the origination of whole languages or even just major language features within existing features in a coherent way, economically. I am attempting to ask the right questions about language development as a way to leverage capital and add value, not just to look at programming languages from the end-user's point of view.