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Comment by asanwal | Hacker News Reader

The article starts with some interesting data but instead of analyzing the data to identify tangible, shared characteristics of $1B exits, it devolves into a generalized, vacuous argument that boils down to (1) be in it for the long-haul, (2) work with visionary/tenacious teams (whatever that means) and (3) have founders with strong product sensibilities.

In short, this doesn't really provide useful guidance on how to build a $1B consumer tech company.

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I found the list of companies very interesting, particularly it's short length compared to the much larger number of current private startups with valuations north of $1B

Did you expect a secret formula? Examples are all you will ever get for a sample size this small.

Of course here's a foolproof method:

http://longorshortcapital.com/four-simple-steps-to-becoming-...

Also found the list interesting and thought there was an opportunity to dive into those companies to look for commonalities in their business model, strategy, technology stack, UI/UX, etc etc.

While there is no secret formula or nor was one expected, several hundred words to say $1B companies require hard work, have awesome teams and founders and take some time to build felt more than a bit underwhelming.

These are just obvious necessary conditions, like "start a company" is necessary to have a $1B company. They aren't sufficient. The article's title implies that they are, which is disingenuous.

"Want to build a $1B consumer company? Don't quit before it's worth $1B."

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