Q 01/05

Investor Aileen Lee picked which mythical beast in 2013 for a private startup valued at $1B or more?

A) Unicorn

B) Phoenix

C) Dragon

D) Griffin

Answer · why

A) Unicorn

Unicorn was chosen for its rarity: Lee's TechCrunch article counted just 39 such companies, and by May 2024 CB Insights listed more than 1,200.

Q 02/05

Play-Doh began in 1930s Cincinnati as which household product, long before schools used it as clay?

A) Window-glazing putty

B) Wallpaper cleaner

C) Furniture polish

D) Pie dough

Answer · why

B) Wallpaper cleaner

Wallpaper cleaner was the original product: the compound was reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools in the mid-1950s, becoming a toy only after i...

Q 03/05

Airbnb's founders raised $30,000 in 2008 by selling what, branded after candidates Obama and McCain?

A) Bottled water

B) Campaign buttons

C) Breakfast cereal

D) T-shirts

Answer · why

C) Breakfast cereal

Breakfast cereal named after the two candidates was sold mostly at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, keeping the site then called AirBed & Brea...

Q 04/05

YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, both ex-PayPal, said their 2005 site was first conceived as what?

A) A sports-highlights archive

B) A résumé-clip service

C) A stock-footage store

D) A dating service

Answer · why

D) A dating service

A dating service with video profiles was the pitch, influenced by Hot or Not; the idea broadened after Jawed Karim could not find clips of the 2004 In...

Q 05/05

Priced out of bagels, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took a correspondence course in what?

A) Ice cream making

B) Cheese making

C) Sourdough baking

D) Coffee roasting

Answer · why

A) Ice cream making

Ice cream making was the fallback after bagels: the Penn State course led to a $12,000 parlour in a renovated Burlington, Vermont, gas station in May ...