GoKawiilEngineer recounts failed scaling bets at startups Runa and Factual
A software engineer's essay recalls working at Runa, an early-stage startup that tried to offer dynamic pricing to small online retailers using Clojure and HBase, which never achieved the scale it expected and was eventually acquired by Staples mainly for its 'innovation' credentials before being shut down. The essay also describes a subsequent role at Factual, which built a global index of places using Java, embedded JavaScript, and later Clojure.