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I don't understand why everyone is whining yet not suggesting an alternative. I would pick Twitter... :D All in this year, they moved Evan Williams to CEO (go

I don't understand why everyone is whining yet not suggesting an alternative. I would pick Twitter... :D All in this year, they moved Evan Williams to CEO (good idea), raised over $20 million in funding (from Union Square Ventures, Jeff Bezos, and others), acquired Summize (easily the hottest app in a while), grew ridiculously popular while stabilizing their service/uptime, and turned down an acquisition offer by Facebook (rumor?). Now that is success. I can't even think of a close second.

jonknee 18y ago
> I can't even think of a close second. Perhaps a firm that had even a dollar in revenue? Twitter hasn't actually become a business yet, so it can't be the best one of the year.
- jfornear 18y ago
  Thanks for your nomination? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company Regardless of your apparent misunderstanding of what qualifies as a startup, Twitter, in fact, does have a dollar in revenue. Their Japanese version, which also launched this year, serves advertisements. :D “It’s like the stupidest question in the world: How’s Twitter going to make money?," said Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson, another investor. "It’s like 'How was Google going to make money?' http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/twitter-to-get.html http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/twitter-to-get.html
  - jonknee 18y ago
    It's not so much that they have no revenue it's that they have no plan for revenue. While they may turn into a great business at some point, they aren't one now. Google's creation of AdWords is not an excuse to fund other ventures who have no idea how to make money. There's not an AdWords for every business. Again, Twitter may become the next Google but that does not mean they are currently one of the most successful start ups. SpaceX inks a multi-billion dollar contract and we're busy talking about how successful Twitter is.
    - jfornear 18y ago
      I see what you mean. I am measuring startup success in potential revenue. I think a startup ceases to be a startup when it becomes a profitable business. Also, I wouldn't consider SpaceX to be in the same boat as Twitter, and I assumed we were talking web startups since the Cuil controversy started this. If we were talking tech in general, I agree, something like SpaceX would be preferable over Twitter any day.

jonknee 18y ago

> I can't even think of a close second. Perhaps a firm that had even a dollar in revenue? Twitter hasn't actually become a business yet, so it can't be the best one of the year.

jfornear 18y ago
Thanks for your nomination? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company Regardless of your apparent misunderstanding of what qualifies as a startup, Twitter, in fact, does have a dollar in revenue. Their Japanese version, which also launched this year, serves advertisements. :D “It’s like the stupidest question in the world: How’s Twitter going to make money?," said Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson, another investor. "It’s like 'How was Google going to make money?' http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/twitter-to-get.html http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/twitter-to-get.html
- jonknee 18y ago
  It's not so much that they have no revenue it's that they have no plan for revenue. While they may turn into a great business at some point, they aren't one now. Google's creation of AdWords is not an excuse to fund other ventures who have no idea how to make money. There's not an AdWords for every business. Again, Twitter may become the next Google but that does not mean they are currently one of the most successful start ups. SpaceX inks a multi-billion dollar contract and we're busy talking about how successful Twitter is.
  - jfornear 18y ago
    I see what you mean. I am measuring startup success in potential revenue. I think a startup ceases to be a startup when it becomes a profitable business. Also, I wouldn't consider SpaceX to be in the same boat as Twitter, and I assumed we were talking web startups since the Cuil controversy started this. If we were talking tech in general, I agree, something like SpaceX would be preferable over Twitter any day.