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If you are in a super competitive space - areas like cleaning or food delivery.. Sigh.

by ronilan 10y ago

ljf 10y ago
Care to explain? THese are areas that people (especially those with disposable income) are prepared to spend their money. Find a problem that people WANT fixing. Sure, other ideas might be cooler, or more 'fun' to work on, but you know - someone has to pay.
- _pmf_ 10y ago
  Maybe the OP is tired of "disruptive ideas" that amount to siphoning money off minimum wage workers.
- HillRat 10y ago
  Those aren't just competitive spaces -- those are almost the paradigmatic examples of concepts that have repeatedly failed over the past two decades to demonstrate business value, but that startups and investors keep returning to like Kipling's burnt fool. Those are concepts that are highly competitive because they have near-zero barriers to entry, while the underlying markets are themselves highly fragmented (significantly driving up your acquisition costs), highly competitive (meaning that there isn't much revenue to share with your startup), and already using multiple capture channels for their customers (meaning that you are unlikely to provide killer value to them). But for some reason -- I have my own theories there -- there's always some concept in those spaces getting funded, so they seem more greenfield than they are.
- biot 10y ago
  I'm picturing ronilan sitting there, despaired, wondering what to do with their startup that delivers food and also cleans your place... having just realized that cleaning and food startups are a dime a dozen.
elizyin 10y ago
Sorry - after reading the comments below, I wanted to clarify what I meant is that investors are currently seeing a lot of companies in cleaning or food delivery. I did not mean to imply / suggest that it's bad to solve problems in these spaces nor did I mean to pass judgement or anything like that. I personally think that competition is good (and proves there is a market), but it's still important to show differentiation.
- ronilan 10y ago
  Elizabeth, I was just feeling sorry for you... Drop me a line, my email via profile... let's see how far "show differentiation" can go.. :)

If you are in a super competitive space - areas like cleaning or food delivery.. Sigh.

by ronilan 10y ago

If you are in a super competitive space - areas like cleaning or food delivery.. Sigh.

ljf 10y ago

Care to explain? THese are areas that people (especially those with disposable income) are prepared to spend their money. Find a problem that people WANT fixing. Sure, other ideas might be cooler, or more 'fun' to work on, but you know - someone has to pay.

_pmf_ 10y ago
Maybe the OP is tired of "disruptive ideas" that amount to siphoning money off minimum wage workers.
HillRat 10y ago
Those aren't just competitive spaces -- those are almost the paradigmatic examples of concepts that have repeatedly failed over the past two decades to demonstrate business value, but that startups and investors keep returning to like Kipling's burnt fool. Those are concepts that are highly competitive because they have near-zero barriers to entry, while the underlying markets are themselves highly fragmented (significantly driving up your acquisition costs), highly competitive (meaning that there isn't much revenue to share with your startup), and already using multiple capture channels for their customers (meaning that you are unlikely to provide killer value to them). But for some reason -- I have my own theories there -- there's always some concept in those spaces getting funded, so they seem more greenfield than they are.
biot 10y ago
I'm picturing ronilan sitting there, despaired, wondering what to do with their startup that delivers food and also cleans your place... having just realized that cleaning and food startups are a dime a dozen.

elizyin 10y ago

Sorry - after reading the comments below, I wanted to clarify what I meant is that investors are currently seeing a lot of companies in cleaning or food delivery. I did not mean to imply / suggest that it's bad to solve problems in these spaces nor did I mean to pass judgement or anything like that. I personally think that competition is good (and proves there is a market), but it's still important to show differentiation.

ronilan 10y ago
Elizabeth, I was just feeling sorry for you... Drop me a line, my email via profile... let's see how far "show differentiation" can go.. :)