5 ms·

What's the best startup story you ever heard?

9 points by eusman 19y ago

doesn't have to be about software

eusman 19y ago
James Dyson's story is one of the most interesting startup stories I know. Trying to sell your technology and everyone ignoring you... http://www.bestchoicevacuums.com/dyson-story.html http://www.bestchoicevacuums.com/dyson-story.html
german 19y ago
Once someone told me about a guy who invented the disk brake, he went to a racing team to offer it, but they told him "we're looking for something to speed up our cars, not to slow them down." At the end, disk brakes helped a lot in racing because drivers could reduce speed in less time which gave them more time to accelerate. (I don't know if this is a true story or just a joke, but its a great story!)
prakash 19y ago
I would say Viaweb and/or Vermeer purely because there is so much information about them.
bboland1 19y ago
I just read about the 17 year old founder of whateverlife.com yesterday. That is a great story.
falsestprophet 19y ago
"The New New Thing" by Michael Lewis
alex_c 19y ago
Gary Dahl, "inventor" of the pet rock. http://www.petsdo.com/blog/pet-rock-made-man-multi-millionaire-6-months-lives http://www.petsdo.com/blog/pet-rock-made-man-multi-millionai...
- Leon 19y ago
  The guy made a million dollars. You know, I had an idea like that once. A long time ago. It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor, and it would have different conclusions written on it that you could jump to.
  - deleted 19y ago
    [deleted]
  - paulv 19y ago
    That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Leon.
aandreev 19y ago
My personal favorite is the story of the Lycos founder in "Founders at Work". The guy just got a call from a VC, saying "we will give you money if you run a company with this great search technology we bought".
toisanji 19y ago
Please help keep all these stories at: http://startupflames.com/ http://startupflames.com/
- joe 19y ago
  Oops, looks like a few got out.
abstractbill 19y ago
I enjoy reading about the early days of Netscape: http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nscpdorm.html http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nscpdorm.html
ballred 19y ago
If you've never read how Kenneth Cole (shoe/fashion company) started out by launching a movie production company, it's a great story: http://www.kennethcole.com/scripts/aboutus/ourstory.asp http://www.kennethcole.com/scripts/aboutus/ourstory.asp
byrneseyeview 19y ago
Epiphyte: http://zgp.org/pipermail/linux-elitists/1999-December/000074.html http://zgp.org/pipermail/linux-elitists/1999-December/000074...
pg 19y ago
Of all the stories in Founders at Work I think my favorite is Wozniak's. It still amazes me that he made the entire Apple II by himself, both hardware and software.

9 points by eusman 19y ago

doesn't have to be about software

James Dyson's story is one of the most interesting startup stories I know. Trying to sell your technology and everyone ignoring you... http://www.bestchoicevacuums.com/dyson-story.html http://www.bestchoicevacuums.com/dyson-story.html

german 19y ago

Once someone told me about a guy who invented the disk brake, he went to a racing team to offer it, but they told him "we're looking for something to speed up our cars, not to slow them down." At the end, disk brakes helped a lot in racing because drivers could reduce speed in less time which gave them more time to accelerate. (I don't know if this is a true story or just a joke, but its a great story!)

prakash 19y ago

I would say Viaweb and/or Vermeer purely because there is so much information about them.

bboland1 19y ago

I just read about the 17 year old founder of whateverlife.com yesterday. That is a great story.

falsestprophet 19y ago

"The New New Thing" by Michael Lewis

alex_c 19y ago

Gary Dahl, "inventor" of the pet rock. http://www.petsdo.com/blog/pet-rock-made-man-multi-millionaire-6-months-lives http://www.petsdo.com/blog/pet-rock-made-man-multi-millionai...

Leon 19y ago
The guy made a million dollars. You know, I had an idea like that once. A long time ago. It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor, and it would have different conclusions written on it that you could jump to.
- deleted 19y ago
  [deleted]
- paulv 19y ago
  That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Leon.

aandreev 19y ago

My personal favorite is the story of the Lycos founder in "Founders at Work". The guy just got a call from a VC, saying "we will give you money if you run a company with this great search technology we bought".

toisanji 19y ago

Please help keep all these stories at: http://startupflames.com/ http://startupflames.com/

joe 19y ago
Oops, looks like a few got out.

abstractbill 19y ago

I enjoy reading about the early days of Netscape: http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nscpdorm.html http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nscpdorm.html

ballred 19y ago

If you've never read how Kenneth Cole (shoe/fashion company) started out by launching a movie production company, it's a great story: http://www.kennethcole.com/scripts/aboutus/ourstory.asp http://www.kennethcole.com/scripts/aboutus/ourstory.asp

byrneseyeview 19y ago

Epiphyte: http://zgp.org/pipermail/linux-elitists/1999-December/000074.html http://zgp.org/pipermail/linux-elitists/1999-December/000074...

pg 19y ago

Of all the stories in Founders at Work I think my favorite is Wozniak's. It still amazes me that he made the entire Apple II by himself, both hardware and software.