[nsmartt]

I assume the the people choosing the methods of communication for startups are capable of learning to use irssi or weechat, but both of those clients take quite a bit time to learn and require significant amounts of customization to make them truly comfortable. It isn't a good business decision to require your teams to learn to use these tools.

Is IRC an acceptable medium for a company? Maybe it can be. Is it wise? Not with tools like irssi.

[kurrent]

A big part of the appeal for IRC to me is the not so low barrier to entry with tools like irrsi

[akerl_]

Which is wonderful if you're an old hat who enjoys having new people get frustrated and leave before they have a chance to contribute to the ecosystem.