The statement "Start-up ideas that succeed big usually look crazy at first" is a sentiment that many gurus, including Paul Graham, seem to enjoy preaching.<p>But is it really true? In other words, are there enough cases to suggest this is not just an exception, but rather a tendency?<p>Here's what is not meant by 'crazy':
1) The goal was too ambitious
2) It seemed insignificant<p>In this context, 'crazy' should be defined as something that appears 'ridiculous' or 'absurd'.
If 'crazy' implies 'too ambitious', the gurus' statement becomes meaningless, boiling down to "successful start-up ideas look ambitious at first".<p>The examples that come to my mind are Twitter (character limit) and Uber & AirBnB (sharing with strangers).<p>Are there more cases out there?
I'd put Twitch up there.<p>The idea that a huge number of people will watch other people play video games and you can sustain an economy by donations and subscriptions was probably crazy at the time.<p>I'm not even talking about watching professional gaming tournaments. Starcraft already set the precedent for e-Sports watching. I'm talking about someone with a webcam in a basement type of content that garners a massive number of viewers.