Work · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to What popular startup sites looked like when they launched
Hi HN, I’m super excited to share my weekend project here and I really hope you find it inspirational and useful. I've spent most of Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK (Memorial day weekend for those in the US) going through Wayback machine and Web archive to create a timeline of how popular startup websites have evolved over time since their launch. As the (now) famous quote from Reid Hoffman goes: "If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you have launched too late." Hope this helps inspire more founders to just get out their and start building. I'm going to…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. What popular startup sites looked like when they launched launched in 2021; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 1
Timeline of what popular startup sites looked like at launch
2021 · its alternatives →
- 2
How the frontpages of famous startups changed over time
2015 · bakztfuture.github.io · its alternatives →
- 3
Startr▲156"Like Airbnb for Uber." Inspiration for your next startup
2016 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
- 44S
I scraped more than 400 urls that were listed as supposed good places to launch a startup. I checked out each one, and found a lot of neglected sites, domains for sale, sites asking a lot of money to list your startup, etc. I made notes about my experience with each. I think this could be useful to other startups.
2023 · launchpointzero.com · its alternatives →
- 5
Talking about product/founder fit.
2016 · startupsfortherestofus.com · its alternatives →
- 6
StartupTile▲74Discover startup launches from all over the web, everyday
2022 · startuptile.com · its alternatives →
- 7
How we went from 0 launches in 5 years to 9 in the last 2
2016 · hitreply.co · its alternatives →
- 8
My friend Tycho, instead of going out for the halloween party created http://startups.org for the startup community, now that's love.
2011 · startups.org · its alternatives →
- 9
I made https://startuplaunchday.com because I was constantly bouncing between Hacker News, random newsletters, Twitter, and government portals just to answer three simple questions: What did people launch today? What’s actually trending in startups right now? Are there any funding opportunities I should know about? StartupLaunchDay pulls those into one place and updates automatically every day. On the site, there are three main views: Launches – a daily feed + archive of startup/product launches, so you can quickly see what other founders are shipping and dig through previous…
2025 · startuplaunchday.com · its alternatives →
- 10
FoundersWall▲35I used to be just a blogger. Now I build internet products, still without code, using AI, design, and taste. I was building in public on X for last 2 months. And honestly, I got tired of how it became performative and started to feel fake. I shipped 2 products. Both failed to get any real traction. I kept sneaking into popular builders’ profiles, hoping to learn how they do it. One thing I kept seeing everywhere, product launch directories. I thought here is the scope. So I started building one. Same UI like the rest. Nothing special. Suddenly one day when it was half built, I realized…
2025 · founderswall.com · its alternatives →
- 11
2016 was our biggest year yet. See the impact you had.
2017 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →
- 12
Hey HN, I've been working on a little side project and could really use your feedback. So, I've always been fascinated by those stories of successful startups doing crazy things in their early days - you know, like Airbnb founders personally photographing listings or DoorDash founders delivering food themselves. I started collecting these stories, and before I knew it, I had a pretty big list. So I thought, "Why not turn this into a website?" And that's how https://dothingsthatdontscale.org was born. It's super basic right now - just a simple directory with about 70 examples. But…
2024 · dothingsthatdontscale.org · its alternatives →
- 13MF
I quit my job a month ago and have been heads down working on my startup. It's my first time working with Ruby or web development at all. I launched on the 7th - http://www.onefatpig.com Now I'm done with the easy part (code) and working on the substantially harder part (getting users). Any advice?
2011 · onefatpig.com · its alternatives →
- 14PT
I made this for people like myself who keep a list of ideas for apps / startups. I also made it for people who are curious to see what projects others have "in their drawer"... and who may want to have a say in which idea should see the light of day. https://ideas.dynamate.io/ The site allows creators to anonymously showcase their idea: Title. Description text. Maybe some mockups... I've tried to make it so that it's quick and easy to just dump an idea in there that's been sitting on some list of yours for months - and hopefully get some feedback on it. If someone else on…
2022 · ideas.dynamate.io · its alternatives →
- 15
Proof that your favorite startups started raw or even ugly!
2019 · instagram.com · its alternatives →
- 16FA
I'm a Computer Science student who loves creating things. Even though university is tough, I always make time for personal projects. Yesterday, I launched my first website that aims to help startup founders find their ideal team members and, at the same time, assist individuals in joining projects that align with their skills and interests. There are also a ranking of the most popular startups and some filters you can use to search what you are looking fot
2025 · stupconnect.com · its alternatives →
- 17
- 18IM
2022 · 90s.wobaka.com · its alternatives →
- 19
- 20LS
We built this using investor tools. I really wanted to know which startups to work for. Are we on the right track? PS - there's a paywall but if you want to explore more, just DM me your email and I'll give you free access in our db!
2023 · usemassive.com · its alternatives →
- 21TS
I'm a Computer Science student who loves creating things. Even though university is tough, I always make time for personal projects. Yesterday, I launched my first website that aims to help startup founders find their ideal team members and, at the same time, assist individuals in joining projects that align with their skills and interests. There are also a ranking of the most popular startups and some filters you can use to search what you are looking fot
2025 · stupconnect.com · its alternatives →
- 22UI
We built this database using the same software investors use to discover startups. My friends and I really wanted to know which startups to work for. Are we on the right track? PS - there's a paywall but if you want to explore more, just DM me your email and I'll send you a free access code! Thank you so much.
2023 · usemassive.com · its alternatives →
- 23AV
I have been working on a few projects which require a landing page over the past couple of months, and this has come to the forefront of my thoughts more recently. As a Startup Weekend alumnus, I was pretty excited to see that launchrock was fully launched and gaining quite a bit of traction. One pr
2011 · alanp.ca · its alternatives →
- 24
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →