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Re:Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still pro... by patio11 on Tuesday January 13, 2009 @11:17PM (#433158)
See, I think this question isn't as actionable as you might think it is. It is like saying "Do you know of anyone who dropped out of high school to play professional basketball and made it to the NBA?"

Yes, I do. I still really wouldn't suggest you try it. The countries' stoops and prisons are covered with was-a-sure-thing-to-go-pro. And the Internet has several million sites already hunting for that six figure AdSense check. (While boring little niche websites with subscriber numbers smaller than many people's Facebook friends list can be ramen profitable within weeks or months of launch.)

Re:Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still pro... by jadence on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @12:47AM (#433250)
Excellent point but I think it may still be useful to see a list of profitable sites that don't charge. Perhaps some common patterns can be found and we'd all learn from it.

That said: I mostly agree with you and I think we'll take a look at the list and realize that they're all extremely lucky and/or happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Re:Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still pro... by bradleyjoyce on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @01:54AM (#433327)
Great response and I agree. I just recently wrote a blog post about how to make money in 2009 with your web startup/app... my advice? Charge people money.. plain and simple

http://www.fortworthstartups.com/2009/01/05/how-to-make-mone...

Re:Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still pro... by rokhayakebe on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @12:56AM (#433258)
No matter how I look at it, it seems that every new startup "secretly" believes that somehow they will make money where others have not when using the same model (advertising). At the same time, online advertising is still young and maybe some of these startups will do well in the near future.
Re:Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still pro... by eru on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @04:26AM (#433436)
Google makes a lot of money advertising. Though you might say there are mostly meta-advertising.