I came across a really interesting analysis on tech used by startups by @lpolovets via @benedictevans' weekly newsletter.
http://codingvc.com/which-technologies-do-startups-use-an-exploration-of-angellist-data
My thoughts (with the usual caveats that this is based on the analysis above, which is based, as the author calls out, on a limited data set):
- Clustering around a set of key technologies for the "best" startups - Might seem kind of obvious, interesting for startups to look at as they think of what tech to adopt. Mass adoption leads to mass learning which leads to a massive amount of real-world experience out there and lots of experts who have really done the work vs read a manual. Also, in a virtuous cycle, the more a tech is used, the more it is improved because customers ask for features, find bugs, etc. In short, more sunlight makes a technology brighter, so this suggests that much like cities with massive numbers of people start behaving differently and providing more services/value add and allowing folks to produce more, more rapidly, technologies with massive adoption are better for the startups using them.
- To counter my first point, I wonder if startups start moving to the technologies that are used by the "best" startups as they get product/market fit, get traction and scale. In other words, I wonder if there is an inherent bias in this since the startups that have higher signal are the ones who (might) have been around a bit longer, and hence tried and moved on from some of the technologies that are easier to start out with, but that don't scale.
Anyways, a really interesting and thought provoking analysis. Thank you @lpolovets and keep them coming!
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Disclosure: This is a personal blog and these opinions are completely my own, are for fun, and do not reflect the opinions of any of my current or past employers. And probably future employers too, though it is hard to say since we don't yet have a time machine.