Products that began as "toys" but became essential business tools
Remember when products designed for consumers unexpectedly revolutionized how businesses operate? For example, Discord started as a chat app for gamers but is now essential for remote teams.
Its journey from gaming-focused platform to business tool is fascinating:
Originally built for gamers needing low-latency communication
Features like server organization, voice channels, and role permissions were perfect for gaming
Discord thrived during the pandemic as businesses discovered its community-building strengths worked brilliantly for remote collaboration
Now powers everything from customer communities to virtual events
💡Question for the PH community: What other products started as "toys" but became mission-critical for businesses?
Share examples of consumer products that made the leap to essential business tools!
Replies
Zoom started from something personal - its founder, Eric Yuan, used to take 10-hour train rides to visit his girlfriend. He wanted a better way to stay connected, and that idea eventually turned into Zoom. Wild how it went from that to powering remote work everywhere.
minimalist phone: creating folders
I cannot say products, but from the perspective of media, very successful video games or comics became a good movie or game.
E.g.
Lara Croft started as a comic, then a video game + movie with A. Jolie
The Last of Us started as a video game – now, it is a good series
The Walking Dead (first as comics) – then, it became a series with several spinoffs
Resident Evil – it was first a video game, then the movie.
You can apply marketing and business models in media/entertainment, and it can be internationally successful.
@busmark_w_nika wow, fantastic parallel! 🤔The strongest value propositions always break category boundaries!
minimalist phone: creating folders
@talshyn I am just a binge-watching movie nerd :D
I find it fascinating how the line between entertainment and utility blurs over time. Take LEGO's 3D modeling now it's influencing engineering and design thinking.
@brigid_stewart oh, yeah, LEGO is a perfect example! Same blocks, totally different applications 👀
Didn't think a no-code automation think like Zaiper would become the tool holding half our business workflows together.
@lisa_stanley funny how that simple connector tool became something we literally can't run the business without anymore!
Shopify: From Tobias Lütke's project to sell skis to a multi-billion dollar e-commerce infrastructure. The classic “solving a problem for yourself, only to discover that countless businesses have the same need” story.🤓
@partick_support I wonder how many future unicorns are being built right now by frustrated people just trying to make their own lives easier!
@talshyn Maybe there are a lot, but maybe you can too. 🤭
@partick_support maybe we'll be swapping unicorn founding stories someday! 😉
Product Hunt
I remember sitting for hours in Ventrilo/TeamSpeak channels in my WoW / DotA times. They could definitely work for distributed teams nowadays! :P
@juan Haha, totally! Amazing how Discord evolved while those stayed firmly in gaming territory!
One of the things I remember is Slack, originally an internal resource for a gaming company, that evolved into a crucial communication platform for enterprises. Its proficient integration of chat, channels, and applications has facilitated seamless and necessary collaboration.
@adindashofwatillah Slack's story is so much like Discord's! Funny how the best work tools often come from play 💕👀
Just putting an ear here👂🏻, curious about everyone's answers.
@gin_6078 glad you're here! So many great examples in this thread 🥰 It's amazing how many 'just for fun' tools have become business essentials!