[hnlmorg]

> This is a problem of having succeeded beyond your expectations, which is a problem only unicorns have.

Nope. I've worked on a few projects that are not "unicorns" yet have legitimately hit that wall. Particularly around on line gaming and gambling.

[spopejoy]

Maybe unicorn is not the right word? If your app has millions of DAUs choking your DB, you should at least be tacking your next big investment round or some other success milestone.

Otherwise, your product is on it's way to failure, so good thing you did One Big DB...

[hnlmorg]

You’re thinking too Silicon Valley.

These services didn’t need additional rounds of funding and aren't the kind of thing that would scale like a unicorn.

Some services might only been transient (like services based around a particular sports league or TV series) or be regional (like government sites or, also, sports leagues).

Not every service out there has aspirations to “change the world”. Some exist to fill a niche. But sometimes that “niche” still covers millions of people.