I call bullshit on the claim that there were no tech-oriented companies. One of them is a platform for automating flying drones. Another is a platform for EE circuit design. These are both pretty nerdgasmic if you ask me. edit: oh and how could I forget Thalmic.
You don't need to be "the next Google" to be an exciting tech company, though. Even AirBnB are not "the next Google" but they're still hugely successful.
That's exactly his point though: AirBNB is not really a high tech company. Other than scaling issues, it's a relatively simple CRUD web-app, their competitive advantage is in their business/social/whatever skills.
