Absolutely yes. My SaaS startup uses it, and it's really great.
I strongly disagree with the "innovation tokens" argument, at least as applied here. For one thing, while Elixir and Phoenix can certainly be considered "innovative" in the sense that they're better than more common alternatives, they really aren't "innovative" in the sense people sometimes try to scare you with—it's not all that different, on a fundamental level, than those alternatives. It feels very similar to Rails or Django—different in some ways, sure, but not at all alien.
But on a more fundamental level—all being well, this startup is something you're going to be doing for at least the next two or three years, and quite likely more. By far the most important factor in making technology decisions is going to be to use technologies that don't make you give up in frustration. Building a startup is a long hard journey, and yes, there will be many time along the way when you'll be tempted to throw in towel and give up.
If you're working day in and day out in a codebase, framework, language, or idiom that you don't enjoy, feeling that every day is a grind, then regardless of anything else you're chances of getting very far are less then they'd be otherwise.
So you're number one consideration when picking a language or a framework should be something that is a joy for you to use.
Of course, that's not to say productivity with he language (etc) is not important. Of course it's important! It's probably the most important factor that goes into that feeling of joy. That's why so many people love Rails… and that's also why so many people love Phoenix.
So go with it. Forcing yourself to use something that will be a slog for you to use is a fatal mistake for your startup—so go with what makes you feel comfortable and productive. If that's Phoenix, go for it!
My startup has been going for more than a year now, and in retrospect writing it in Elixir with Phoenix was absolutely the correct decision. I can say a lot of good things about it: it's comfortable, powerful, productive, efficient, and so forth. But most importantly, because of all these things, I'm not pulling my hair out. Yes, doing a startup is hard. But at the very least we can avoid making things worse by deciding that the things that are under our control (such as the framework and language to use) won't be adding to those headaches.
Maybe there are other languages and frameworks that are even better. Maybe that's true, although I do think that Phoenix is at the top of the list at the moment. Some people are already comfortable with Rails or the like, and prefer to stay with it. Sure, if that's the position that you're in, that may be the correct choice for you.
But as a general rule, the principle shouldn't be "avoid innovation", it should be to avoid getting stuck in a tech stack which will feel like a grind to work on a year from now.
I strongly disagree with the "innovation tokens" argument, at least as applied here. For one thing, while Elixir and Phoenix can certainly be considered "innovative" in the sense that they're better than more common alternatives, they really aren't "innovative" in the sense people sometimes try to scare you with—it's not all that different, on a fundamental level, than those alternatives. It feels very similar to Rails or Django—different in some ways, sure, but not at all alien.
But on a more fundamental level—all being well, this startup is something you're going to be doing for at least the next two or three years, and quite likely more. By far the most important factor in making technology decisions is going to be to use technologies that don't make you give up in frustration. Building a startup is a long hard journey, and yes, there will be many time along the way when you'll be tempted to throw in towel and give up.
If you're working day in and day out in a codebase, framework, language, or idiom that you don't enjoy, feeling that every day is a grind, then regardless of anything else you're chances of getting very far are less then they'd be otherwise.
So you're number one consideration when picking a language or a framework should be something that is a joy for you to use.
Of course, that's not to say productivity with he language (etc) is not important. Of course it's important! It's probably the most important factor that goes into that feeling of joy. That's why so many people love Rails… and that's also why so many people love Phoenix.
So go with it. Forcing yourself to use something that will be a slog for you to use is a fatal mistake for your startup—so go with what makes you feel comfortable and productive. If that's Phoenix, go for it!
My startup has been going for more than a year now, and in retrospect writing it in Elixir with Phoenix was absolutely the correct decision. I can say a lot of good things about it: it's comfortable, powerful, productive, efficient, and so forth. But most importantly, because of all these things, I'm not pulling my hair out. Yes, doing a startup is hard. But at the very least we can avoid making things worse by deciding that the things that are under our control (such as the framework and language to use) won't be adding to those headaches.
Maybe there are other languages and frameworks that are even better. Maybe that's true, although I do think that Phoenix is at the top of the list at the moment. Some people are already comfortable with Rails or the like, and prefer to stay with it. Sure, if that's the position that you're in, that may be the correct choice for you.
But as a general rule, the principle shouldn't be "avoid innovation", it should be to avoid getting stuck in a tech stack which will feel like a grind to work on a year from now.