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Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

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Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#51

Post by [deleted] »

pg wrote: post #24
evo_9 wrote: post #19

I think it's just 'fashionable' to not talk about your tech if you're using microsoft tools (aka .net framework). Mainly it seems that HN is very pro anything else. I'm actually the lead for 2 Denver start-ups myself (also a BizSpark member); I'm building everything on the back-end in c#/sql and using web-services to consume the data in my web and mobile apps. For me it's just a speed issue since I have 10 years C# e…

I don't think it's just a matter of fashion. Only a handful of the startups we've funded use anything from Microsoft.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#52

Post by abrudtkuhl »

[deleted] wrote: post #34
rbranson wrote: post #17

The paid/free argument isn't really a valid basis for business decisions. Developing software is extremely expensive, even using free software. However, there are numerous overriding benefits of open source software. #1: Startup founders use technology they know. Open source developers tend to be willing to trade more risk and effort for a more tailored and flexible end product. This is a similar personality profile…

[deleted]

Hilarious amount of hardware? How do you figure? If you put a Rails app next to a ASP.Net app that do the same thing I guarantee there's not a "hilarious" difference in the hardware needed to run them.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#53

Post by antileet »

abrudtkuhl wrote: post #32
fleitz wrote: post #30

It's just not trendy and the release cycle is very long compared to open source. The long release cycle contributes to the tech side being less newsworthy. Also, the stack is fairly standardized so if you are making a website your stack is going to be either ASP.NET or ASP.NET MVC and it's going to run on the sanctioned VM, and you'll likely be running SQL Server. Contrast this with the ruby stack you might be runnin…

I must take this opportunity to note that the ASP.Net MVC release cycle is far more aggressive than Rails. Secondly... SQL Server is by no means required in the stack. We are using MongoDB as our datasource in an ASP.Net MVC app. You can use ANY database.

We're using ASP.Net MVC2 with Mongo DB as well. So far the experience has been fabulous. Even more so considering that the entire development process from coding to deployment has been done completely on Linux - giving us more flexibility with deployments like being able to use Varnish for caching, etc.

We spent three weeks evaluating Rails, Flask and Django for the app, and the team had experience with all three tools. The risky move to a statically typed, compiled environment paid off because of a solid IDE and good surrounding tools.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#54

Post by dgudkov »

[deleted] wrote: post #34
rbranson wrote: post #17

The paid/free argument isn't really a valid basis for business decisions. Developing software is extremely expensive, even using free software. However, there are numerous overriding benefits of open source software. #1: Startup founders use technology they know. Open source developers tend to be willing to trade more risk and effort for a more tailored and flexible end product. This is a similar personality profile…

[deleted]

Have you made comparison of windows hosting vs linux hosting in terms of price?

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#55

Post by abrudtkuhl »

evo_9 wrote: post #50
abrudtkuhl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must take this opportunity to note that the ASP.Net MVC release cycle is far more aggressive than Rails. Secondly... SQL Server is by no means required in the stack. We are using MongoDB as our datasource in an ASP.Net MVC app. You can use ANY database.

Yeah that's a good point that I think non-.Net dev's aren't aware of - you really aren't that locked into doing it the 'MS Way'. Like you mentioned you don't have to use SQL - it's up to you, really, on the DB. Similarly, you don't have to use ASPX/WebForms either; a lot of people I know are switching to MVC and not using any of the .net ms usercontrols on the front-end, instead going with open standards and using so…

Yeah on that note you can use ANY view engine to run your ASP.Net MVC application - you are not locked in to the classic web forms system. We use jQuery and standards based html/css to do everything.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#56

Post by thenduks »

There are quite a few, as people have said, but to add another perspective -- I'm not concerned that much about money (although a couple years/servers in and it would start to hurt) but more about lock-in.

I have to run Windows servers, use Microsoft's IDE, etc. What if Server 2012 is absolutely terrible (hey, it's happened before). What if some insanely huge security hole is discovered in IIS (again...). You're hosed. In the land of open-source you can just do a 15 minute down-time to switch to nginx (or 10+ other options), set up some new servers running a different distro, whatever.

It's just too worrying to purposefully dig yourself into a hole where you live and die by your vendor. It's not as if their products are all that great, either. I certainly wouldn't want to develop on Windows, and I'd be even less happy about forcing potential employees to do so.

TL;DR: Why do you expect to hear of many MS based start-ups? There just isn't that much compelling founders.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#57

Post by omeega »

I've asked myself the same question. The MSFT stack has worked wonderfully for me. Its not as expensive as people think, and its so easy to get started.

1)Download the windows microsoft web platform installer 2)In just a few clicks you can install asp.net, Visual studio web developer and SQLserver express, all free

When you're ready to deploy sign up for the rackspace windows cloud server. Currently I pay about $60 a month (this includes the cost of windows server). You can use SQLserver express for free (although its capped at 10?/8? GB of data).

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#58

Post by peteforde »

zalew wrote: post #16

myspace The server infrastructure consists of over 4,500 web servers (running Windows Server 2003, IIS 6.0, ASP.NET and .Net Framework 3.5), over 1,200 cache servers (running 64-bit Windows Server 2003), and over 500 database servers (running 64-bit Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005) as well as a custom distributed file system which runs on Gentoo Linux.

What a waste of natural resources.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#59

Post by ronnier »

While I wouldn't call it a startup, my project (in the bookmarking realm) is C#, ASP.NET MVC 2, SQL Server, Webkit, and Lucene.

While working on it, I had all the pieces put together to quickly make a mobile version of hacker news http://toadjaw.com/hn that offers an article text viewer and screenshots of the article. So all that's in .net.

I've mentioned elsewhere that the overall project is about 75% done. Not ready for public use yet, but close. If anybody is really interested in beta testing, let me know.

Re: Ask HN: (No) Microsoft based start-ups?

#60

Post by AmberShah »

pg wrote: post #24
evo_9 wrote: post #19

I think it's just 'fashionable' to not talk about your tech if you're using microsoft tools (aka .net framework). Mainly it seems that HN is very pro anything else. I'm actually the lead for 2 Denver start-ups myself (also a BizSpark member); I'm building everything on the back-end in c#/sql and using web-services to consume the data in my web and mobile apps. For me it's just a speed issue since I have 10 years C# e…

I don't think it's just a matter of fashion. Only a handful of the startups we've funded use anything from Microsoft.

That doesn't discount the idea of fashion. YC attracts a certain crowd of applicants that tend to be younger and more closely tied into the emergent technology trends. If they have the time to take X months off of their jobs and their families, they also probably have time to learn new technologies that they didn't use in school or at work. I'm young enough but with a busy full time job and a toddler, learning new technologies (to the point of extreme proficiency) is not high on my list.

For me it came down to what I could build most rapidly given my skillset. I had experience in Java and C#/.NET and my partner (my husband, not my co-founder) could mostly only help in C#/.NET. So it really was a question of getting something built in 3 months versus 6 (or maybe not at all if I got discouraged and it took too long to market). The licensing fees are the things that weigh on my mind, but if my business is successful, I will be able to pay them or even re-write the application using the profits.

I know better than to expect to converse about our MS technology with the HN crowd, though.

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