Is the web startup overdone?
First of all, I was wondering if anybody else had the impression that as Internet-startup-people, most of our ideas are about things that are Internet-related and tend to follow the big trends such as mobile, local, social, crowdfunded, gamified and so on? I get the feeling that most startups are competing in a very narrow space, a space that's becoming more and more saturated every day. There are 10 versions of literally everything web/mobile out there. I'm also guessing that this is a natural consequence of businesses being started by "Internet-people", with most of their time and interests coming from the web and tech worlds.
What I'm getting at is that I think there are innumerable fantastic opportunities in fields that aren't pure Internet software, such as biology, energy, materials and others, and yet most of us can't do much about it without the right domain expertise. On my own, I most likely can't disrupt the legal industry and replace laywers, I can't build the next great indestructible mobile device case material, I can't optimize air traffic control, I can't do anything revolutionary in the field of biology. I could however, if I partnered up with the right person with the right domain expertise who might have a vision for how his industry could be significantly changed through the latest software technologies. I'm suspecting that in fact because non-software industries don't have nearly as many software professionals constantly trying to automate/streamline/evolve everything around them, they have more opportunities for change than they realize.
The challenge is then to come together and achieve something across disciplines, but I'm not seeing much of that happening, not in the SV or HN community at least.
What could we be doing better, both on an individual level, as entrepreneurs, and also on a community level? Is going to other industries to look for disruption opportunities simply a best kept secret that nobody's talking about?
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It seems certain markets are so crowded that when you do competitor research you don't even know if you had found all or there is a brand new startup (on page 5 of google) you can't find that had already done what you plan to do. Does anyone else feels this way - wonder if they have sufficient competitor info or refresh it often enough? – Webbie 11 years ago
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I absolutely feel that way. The 2 past startup ideas I worked on kept having existing competition pop up on our radar months later, despite what I thought was a very decent research effort. I wonder if this is almost an indication in itself that the space is not overcrowded. If you cannot find the competing offering when doing competitive research, how likely is your customer to find what she's looking for? – Glitch 11 years ago
4 Answers
I think this is a great question and I was just recently discussing this with my partner. Most of us read books like Rework that tell us to "scratch out own itch" when deciding on an idea to pursue and so we look for ideas in our own need bank that we understand as users. Some of us partner with domain experts, but it's really hard to build great software without understanding customer needs. Yes, you can learn about your customers and industry from your partners, freelancers, etc. but as a developer you focus on software first.
My personal experience tells me there are 2 ways to succeed when starting a venture in a space you aren't familiar with 1) find a strong partner who is a true domain expert, make the partnership work 2) plan on learning more about the domain in order to participate in product/customer development and be prepared to outsource some of the work you might not get to as a result because you will spend time learning. #1 is a challenge since software engineers tend to hang out with other techies, so have limited opportunities to interact with doctors, biologists, etc. unless they are in their extended family. There are sites that help you find co-founders, but I guess it's not as appealing to start a company with people you barely know.
Suggestion to software engineers on the lookout for an idea - talk to your extended family over Thanksgiving dinner and ask them if they recently had a thought that started with "I wish I could just ...." and who knows, perhaps you will find a problem you want to tackle.
I don't think the web startup is overdone, but the stories / folklore of the dotcom era are becoming less relevant (if at all).
Given the advances of late, it is possible to create a company that will return enough money to live on (the digital eqivalent of mom and pop stores). Sure, its not a "scalable" business, but neither does it require the initial investment necessary like it was in the dotcom era.
So we see a lot of "me too" solutions. But, as this Harvard Business review article suggests:
The new frontier for software is applying our highly developed, easilyIts an interesting read - and pokes a few holes in the old Valley founder/market fit mentality. The quote "The only way out of this innovation gridlock is an expansion in founding team diversity" seems to echo your (and many others) sentiment.
deployable technology stack to a whole new range of industries, where
the problems can't be properly solved just by firing up a text editor
and initializing a LAMP stack.
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Fascinating, that article says pretty much exactly what I was trying to get at. Mine was a conclusion based on my personal journey in SV and spending a lot of time around SV-based entrepreneurs and start-ups, and it looks like I'm not the only one to get to it. Unfortunately it doesn't quite propose a solution to how to bridge the gap and bring all these people together. – Glitch 11 years ago
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Thanks for that article, I too have been thinking the same thing lately, it's getting crowded.I think to bridge this gap it's going to be about communication and understanding. I'd be tempted to pick an industry at random, read up and then get talking to people, everyone has problems. – Alex 11 years ago
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Thanks for the link jimg. I like that you mentioned mom and pop comparison, it seems micropreneurship is on the rise - there are conferences, meetups and close circle of people that mentor each other (see micropreneur.com). @Alex, while it's true that there are problems to solve everywhere it's probably more practical to talk to people in other industries so the problem is suggested as a pain point, rather than proposed and agreed to as being useful. – Webbie 11 years ago
The huge difference between web/software startups and the others is that you almost only need time and talent, no physical goods but your computer.
So, logically it is the most overcrowded business are. I think it only will be done when invented the last application: A human-like intelligent one (AI).
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@glitch is not just pointing to manufacturing of physical goods, but to software for domains other than digital publishing, media, social networking and mobile that most developers can relate to based on personal experiences. – Webbie 11 years ago
In my opinion, any individual or website that offers a unique or exceptional product or service will not be overdone.
