What would you do with an extra $37? According to several startups, web hosting tops the list of what they would buy with a bit of extra cash.
According to Wired, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Maciej Ceglowski started the Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud project to highlight the idea that if “you have access to technical labor, the startup and operating costs for an online project in 2013 are negligible.”
Out of the six startups involved in the Pinboard project, four are putting the cash towards web hosting. Simple Cyber Security is buying Amazon EC2 to build and test bundles of server software, Sailor Forecasts is putting its $37 towards a VPS, and Parent Interviews is using a portion to pay bills on its VPS. Growstuff will also channel its funding directly into web hosting.
Web hosts have increasingly tapped into incubators and accelerators to offer startups free hosting or cloud services coupled with mentoring support, and the deal is usually a bit sweeter than $37. For example, NephoScale recently partnered with Mozilla’s WebFWD program to provide $12,000 of cloud hosting to startups.
Ceglowski makes it pretty clear he doesn’t want to emulate what other startup incubators are doing. He argues that since participants receive “almost no money” and are expected to do everything themselves, ultimately, they will be “vastly better prepared to succeed in business.”
What do you think of the Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud project? Do you agree with Ceglowski’s claims about the costs of an online project being “negligible” in 2013?
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
