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Post author here. I think that's more common in consumer startups without a clear path to revenue and profitability. I know it happens in the B2B world as well,
by nwenzel 13y ago
Post author here. I think that's more common in consumer startups without a clear path to revenue and profitability. I know it happens in the B2B world as well, but I don't believe anyone thinks 42Floors, Cratejoy, AirBnB, Square, or Casetext are on their way to an acqui-hire. It's certainly not our plan.
Buying from startups is not without risk. But buying from large vendors also carries risk. A diverse set of suppliers is a good thing.
- duiker101 13y agoOn what basis are AirBnB and Square still classified as startups?
- outericky 13y agoWhile "big" and successful, they are still young companies with startup ideals. Not simply legacy companies where every employee is long removed from the original drivers and mission. Just because AirBnB has a $1B+ valuation, doesn't mean it conducts business like IHG or Marriott. They still have startup values.
- CJefferson 13y agoOut of interest, at what point do you think a company stops being a startup? Picking the one company from that list I am most familiar with, AirBNB has been going since 2008. AirBNB are now the people acquiring and shutting down / changing other startups!
- nwenzel 13y agoTo classify a company as a "startup" I'd go with either Steve Blank's definition (An organization in search of a repeatable and scalable business model [0]) or Jacobellis v. State of Ohio (I know it when I see it [1]) Sure, AirBnB certainly appears to have hit the scaling part. But I bet they're still trying to find new models and new markets. Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and others dominate the corporate travel market. Dropbox appears to be moving towards photo sharing on the consumer side and config/settings sharing on the tech side. Startup, not startup. Probably irrelevant. I know that there's value in having companies who think like a startup as vendors. Procurement departments aren't structured to be allowed to think that way and I think that's bad for the companies they serve. [0] http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/ http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-princ... [1] https://casetext.com/case/jacobellis-v-state-of-ohio/paragraph/dae98ad0-1274-4172-b81e-cdc4e7e0e633#.UwTfeEJdUzE https://casetext.com/case/jacobellis-v-state-of-ohio/paragra...
- grimlck 13y agoSo is Google a startup then? They are definately trying new models and markets - Glass, self driving cars, robots, etc. How would AirBnB be any more of a startup than Google?