Many big companies began only as mere experiments. Though those ideas seemed crazy, they came true and succeeded. Let us tell you about 5 projects that used to be non-core activities.
ProductHunt
You must believe it’s necessary to possess technical skills in order to start a business in IT sphere. However, Ryan Hoover can prove you wrong through his story. He is the founder of ProductHunt — platform which helps people discover new technological products. Ryan lacked any engineer skills, and did the things he was better at. He invited hundreds of investors and founders who might like and develop the project. In a few years, the project became a massive community.
Groupon
Only 2 years after the launch, a mere social network turned into a service for collective discounts which got valued at $1 billion. Initially, the company was meant to unite people around a certain action. Once Eric Lefkofsky saw people unite with a view to buy a good and get a discount. Thus, the company was rebranded which brought a bunch of money and glory.
Twitter
Now almost everyone uses this social media, though it used to be a small side project. Initially, it was an SMS service for a staff group. 10 years ago hardly anyone could believe Twitter would become that influential.
Craigslist
This company has been thriving for 20 years in the American market. Once Craig Newmark made a list of e-addresses for local events. He expected the list to help him meet new people. The idea became popular and the list was used not only for meetings. In the future it inspired Craig to create Craigslist which is now valued at $1 billion.
WeWork
One of the most important startups could have not appeared at all. Before founding the company, Adam Newman sold kidswear. As an additional income source he and his partner rented a small space and opened ‘green’ co-working. With the money Adam made at Green Desk they founded WeWork, which currently costs $20 billion.
Later we are going to share more startups of that kind. Meanwhile, which story did you like the most? Comment in the chat
