Mashable: Web Startups and the Lying Liars that Lie About Them

This one is so funny, and oh so true. Just had to post this list of Web Startups and the Lying Liars that Lie About Them from Mashable.

10 semi-truths Mashable uses "for the sake of brevity, hyperbole or just plain laziness".

1. “It’s the X of Y!!” Wherein X represents a hot service with $25 million in VC, and Y represents something that has no fathomable relation to X. Example: Cheese is the YouTube of foodstuffs.

2. “it’s entering a crowded market” Truth: this is the 21st frigging social bookmarking site I’ve reviewed this week.

3. “it’s lightweight version of X” Truth: site has less features than your browser’s About:Blank page.

4. This one may “gain traction” - A Mashable stalwart. Truth: I have no clue whether this startup will take off, but if it happens, I called it!

5. “it’s very alpha”. Truth: site is less reliable than MySpace, a fact that should defy the laws of physics.

6. “it needs more work”. Truth: if there was a state before alpha, pre-alpha, and super pre-alpha, this site would be it.

7. “it has failed to gain traction” - Truth: pwned.

8. “a social network with XX million users” Where XX is a totally fictional number the founders made up, and we took it as fact.

9. It’s The XYZ Killer!! - Wherein XYZ represents an amazingly popular one-of-a-kind service and the thing doing the killing launched today on a server in the 13 year old founder’s bedroom.

10. “?” Ah, the question mark, the ultimate lie! Printing an unsubstantiated rumor from a stranger named Dave is bad journalism. You might be wrong. But put a question mark after it, and you called it either way! Suggestions: Digg Acquired by Donald Trump?, Metacafe Worth $1 Trillion?, Queen of England Reads Mashable Daily?