That might be true. But I'd rather bet on a startup: 1) If the product is successful, they will likely have continued growth and support (via an acquisition or

That might be true. But I'd rather bet on a startup: 1) If the product is successful, they will likely have continued growth and support (via an acquisition or other exit). If the product sucks I don't really want it anyway. With Google, the success of the product doesn't seem aligned to their strategy on when to keep products. There are perfectly viable products with plausibly profitable, high margins, if they were operating a stand-a-lone business that get shut down. The bet is not just on the success of the product, but also google's overall business strategy, which is much more contingent - especially at this point given their track record. 2) Established companies other than google usually do a better job providing an off-ramp to other services, or sell their customer-base to a competitor, rather than shutting down. Google, to their credit, is very good about providing the data so "someone" can manage a migration - they just don't make set up the continuity themselves. Early-stage companies are often bad at this too though.