That's harsh pinkrooftop. I'm not a startup employee or founder, and I read HN because I find the non-startup related submissions interesting. I was deployed at the end of 2012-2013 and my boss called ISIS as a big threat even as it was developing (although he may have just gotten lucky). I wasn't trying to force this into a startup picture, I just saw a lot of parallels between ISIS and a lot of "unicorns" that look awesome and then deflate once reality takes hold and it turns out their business plan is unsustainable. And a lot of startups have an exit strategy to get bought out by a larger tech company. The point I was trying to make is that they can't keep acting like their growth will continue forever and they just realized that they don't have the money to pretend like it will.

If you want to pick apart my comparison, use specific details rather than complaining that the "analogy fails" without offering any support. Sure, startup companies don't kidnap and murder innocent civilians, but I think its a fair comparison when talking about financials and paying employees.

It just doesn't seem worthwhile to fit ISIS into a startup model. It's a terroristic cult focused on Sharia Law. So the business model would be conquer and impose Islamic law, and start a world wide Islamic Caliphate to serve God by means of ushering in the apocalypse, thru innovative disruption of basic human rights? The only similarities to a startup are that they need leadership and money to achieve their goals. Which is what I said before, the analogy fails after the initial idea.

> ISIS isn't a startup company

Why do you say that?

I think that's exactly what it is. It's a shitty business though. It's business is war and conquest and rape and pillage and destruction. But in the end it has a budget, it has a start date, it has employees, it has a stated plan, it recruits, etc... What else do you want in an organization to make it a company?

If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck...

https://news.vice.com/article/a-leaked-budget-may-finally-sh...

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459249994/leaked-budget-docume...

Using money and budgeting expenditure doesn't alone make something a startup company. Or a company. Paul Graham says a startup is simply a company designed to grow fast. ISIS is trying to grow but are they a company? When do they issue an IPO? What benefit does analyzing ISIS as a startup provide, judging if they are more innovative than other terrorists groups? Can they literally capture enough market share? It's a silly concept, would make a good SNL skit

It was an analogy, not a definition. Your entire rebuttal so far has leaned far more on a definitional objection than any of the comparisons made.