[valhalla]

I think it's important to remember that none of these startups were as popular now as in the beginning. This is obvious, but it's hard too think back to the late-90s and put ourselves in the metapsychology of a user who was evangelizing Google when (basically) everyone uses Google now. Same with Reddit and Mint.

I first heard about Google from my 1st grade teacher. He bought us 1984 Macintoshs (with his own money) to use since our school didn't see the point of buying new computers to teach first graders computer skills in 1999 (the irony is not lost on me...). When he saw me using Alta Vista one day in our school's computer lab, he stopped me mid-search, logged onto Google and the rest is history.

My teacher was kind of a hippie and had spent time on an Indian Reservation as a photographer. He was obsessed with astronomy and took us on field trips to the Griffith Observatory at night where attendance was extra credit. I don't know if this is representative of Google's initial user base but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.

TL;DR: It's almost impossible to tell in hindsight who the few users were especially when a company is ubiquitous. Needless to say, it seems to be the best way to succeed