A few seconds on google:

http://gizmodo.com/early-spotify-was-built-on-pirated-mp3-fi...

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/09/spotify-illegal-m...

Thanks. This seems unconfirmed but pretty believable, so strike Spotify off my list.

SpaceX and Tesla both have a long history of extremely shady labor practices.

Can't edit my comment anymore, but good point.

Craigslist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc.

Github: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub#Departure_of_Tom_Presto...

Paypal: https://www.google.com/search?q=paypal+scandal&rlz=1C5CHFA_e...

Twitter: https://www.google.com/search?q=twitter+harassment+problem&r...

Square: http://www.businessinsider.com/wsj-square-coo-resigned-after...

So your list has dwindled to just Dropbox and Instagram.

Craigslist: That lawsuit came well over a decade after it launched, so that's not an example of something startups are forced to do to succeed.

Github: The point I'm arguing against is the idea that startups have to use exploitative and legally questionably business practices to succeed. This Github thing sucks, but it doesn't really have anything to do with business practices, and obviously nobody is arguing that startup leaders have to to be sexist to succeed.

PayPal: That scandal looks like it's related to PayPal Credit, which they acquired a decade after PayPal was founded. Not an example of something startups have to do to succeed.

Twitter: This is somewhat debatable, but it's a reasonable point. Maybe Twitter wouldn't have succeeded if it tried to stamp out harassment early on.

Square: Similar to Github. This sucks, but it's not really relevant to the point I'm trying to make. It is possible and relatively common for a startup to find massive success without relying on exploitation and potentially illegal business practices.

Snapchat? The early version of the app was literally only used by sexting teenagers in Orange County high schools.

No. That's what out of touch adults in tech thought.

Reasonable point.

I would like to add that Square internally has a very oft-repeated (and somewhat tongue-in-cheek) mantra of "break the rules, not the law", and IMO a pretty strong moral compass in general.