[MorePowerToYou]

None of those companies are start-ups. Companies that are truly start-ups have little to zero revenue and little to zero name recognition. The companies you mentioned have passed the start-up phase but have yet to reach the Goliath phase (Amazon, Google, etc). They all have/had escape velocity and are/were on the upwards trajectory.

[oculusthrift]

Well yeah, but they were at least more of a "startup" a few years ago when I wanted to work there. My main point was: look how they turned out despite the hype or industry experts predictions.