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The more practical a startup, the less 'sexy' it is; and vice versa.

Maybe it's that this is really hardly a startup -- it's a solid company that just happens to have a web presence as its main outlet to customers?

Launched with a Series A in 2009, has taken 3 up rounds of funding in the years since, now files for an IPO in 2013, exactly 4 years later. Not only is this a textbook VC-funded startup, it's pretty much a perfect illustration of the ideal trajectory and timeline for a VC-funded startup.

It's started just a couple years ago, made a new business niche, had explosive growth from zero and is going to IPO - a startup by any definition.

Having a web outlet to customers is completely unrelated to that; a niche company selling their stuff to a small handful of large companies and not even having a website can be a perfectly valid startup.

I think there's a clear counter-point to your statement in a company like Uber. Better taxi service? That's the definition of practicality, and I still find the business model, and especially the analytics very intriguing ("sexy").

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