[blantonl]

... and I can't name a consumer desktop application (especially a really generic one like mail with tons of free competitors) that has become a major $1bn+ (or even $100m+) business in the last several years.

Exactly. An "exit" can mean a lot of different things depending on the company, situation, financials etc.

[reinhardt]

Why does a 2-5 employee company have to get to be a $100M in the first place? It's pretty sad if this is indeed true.

[hntester123]

reinhardt: I agree. I think the reason for this kind of thinking ("have to get to $100MM") is that developers are brainwashed (by all the TechCrunch-style hype about the few startups that make it very big) and forget common sense - that they can live very well indeed even if pulling in much less revenue than $100MM - hey, 1 to 5 mil or even 0.5 mil is enough for a pretty luxurious life for most people anywhere in the world, unless you want to buy yachts or something like that.