[badmash69]

OP -- you sound like an MBA : bland and completely devoid of any semblance of originality.

I think hackers should be opinionated ( right or worong doesn't matter) and have something original to say.

So let me answer the question for you.

Drum roll ....

The right programming language for a start up is Scala.

Programmers who have taught themselves Scala , with being virtually very little job requirements for Scala , have self selected themselves into an elite category.

It is statically typed.

It runs on JVM that you can instrument and monitor.

Java ecosystem is vast.

See .. having an opinion isn't that hard.

[astrodust]

The OP, to their credit, did manage to avoid igniting a language war. Now you're standing in the town square with a sandwich board strapped to yourself and shaking a noisy bell while crowing about Java.

Scala, awesome or not, is a pretty crazy thing to advocate. People complain constantly about the lack of developer support for something as common-place as Ruby and instead want to go with PHP or C# simply because they can't throw a rock without hitting one of those developers.

The best language for a project is the one that fits the requirements and can be supported. That short-lists things a bit.

[xiongchiamiov]

Ah, but you don't need to hire 10,000 mediocre programmers; you just need 5 good ones.