Startups Are Just Chats, Lists, or Spreadsheets

package startups

import "math/rand"

func StartupIdeaGenerator() string {
    ideas := []string{"a chat", "a mailing list", "a spreadsheet"}
    return ideas[rand.Intn(len(ideas))]
}

Startups look fancy. They’ve got slick apps, compelling pitches, and a ton of buzzwords. But strip all that away, and most of them boil down to three things: a chat, a mailing list, or a spreadsheet.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing—it’s genius. They take old-school tools and make them new-school cool. Let’s break some big names down.

Uber: The Chat

Uber is just a chat app. You “send a message” with your location and destination into a geo-tagged chat room, and drivers “reply” when they accept your request. The interface makes it seamless, but the core interaction? Textbook chat logic.

Twitter: The Mailing List

Twitter is a mailing list where you subscribe to people’s thoughts (or whatever Elon’s tweeting about). Tweets go to your “inbox” (timeline), and you can “post” to your list of followers. Basically, email for attention spans under 280 characters.

Airbnb: Spreadsheet Meets Chat

Airbnb combines a spreadsheet (listings, prices, and dates) with a chat feature (guest-host negotiations). Fancy? Sure. But at its heart, it’s just structured data and direct communication.

20 Startups, Broken Down

1. Slack: A group chat with some file-sharing perks.
2. Notion: A spreadsheet pretending to be a workspace for everything.
3. WhatsApp: A chat app with pictures and voice messages.
4. Google Docs: Collaborative spreadsheets or documents, depending on how you use them.
5. Asana: A glorified to-do list with spreadsheet vibes.
6. Calendly: A calendar (aka spreadsheet of time slots) turned into an email-friendly scheduler.
7. Substack: A mailing list for newsletters with monetization.
8. Zoom: A video-enabled chat room.
9. Stripe: A spreadsheet that processes payments.
10. Discord: A chat platform with topic-based channels.
11. Figma: A collaborative design tool—spreadsheet meets Photoshop.
12. Medium: A mailing list for blog posts, ranked by engagement.
13. Yelp: A spreadsheet of businesses with customer reviews.
14. Spotify: A playlist (aka spreadsheet of songs) with a fancy music player.
15. GitHub: A spreadsheet for code repositories and issues.
16. DoorDash: A chat between restaurants, drivers, and customers with menu attachments.
17. Etsy: A spreadsheet marketplace for handmade goods.
18. Robinhood: A stock market spreadsheet with a modern UI.
19. Kickstarter: A chat where creators pitch ideas and backers respond with funding.
20. Duolingo: A gamified spreadsheet of vocabulary and grammar drills.

Startups don’t need to reinvent the wheel—they just need to make it spin better. Next time you brainstorm a business idea, ask yourself: Is it a chat, a mailing list, or a spreadsheet? If it is, you’re already halfway there.

“Old tools in new clothes—that’s innovation.”

Try it out: What does StartupIdeaGenerator() say your next big thing will be?