[fmw]

I'm betting my startup on Clojure, but it doesn't feel like much of a "bet". It is probably one of the least risky choices I've had to make and as a bonus to the technical benefits it is also a nice way to differentiate yourself. It is integrated with the familiar, mature JVM-platform and not that hard to learn as an experienced developer. Integrating with existing Java or future JVM code (e.g. Scala, JRuby, Groovy) is a huge plus, because you can start thinking about the right tool for the job instead of troublesome integration with legacy code.

As to hiring: I think you will have a harder time finding good programmers to work on boring problems in a boring language (e.g. Java). Picking a niche language would make your project more interesting, but you can also do other things to make the working attractive to good people, e.g. actively developing and maintaining open source libraries related to your project or allow them to rethink the way problems are solved in your industry. Seemingly boring problems can have very interesting solutions. It also helps when you offer good working conditions (e.g. possibility to work remotely and all the "Aeron chair" kind of perks you keep reading about on HN). Not everyone is right for the typical startup or Googler lifestyle. Some very good hackers actually prefer e.g. working from home so they can take care of baby to pulling all-nighters at Facebook.

This is all assuming you're a technical founder. If you are: go with something that you're not only passionate about, but that is also the right tool for the job. In my case Clojure fits best, because I need the integration with Java libraries like Apache Lucene, but in your case it might be Haskell or something else entirely. If you aren't a programmer yourself you should find a technical co-founder or early employee to make this kind of decision.