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This is an amazing anecdote. Spinning up a side company to solve a need you have as a company that isn’t addressed by the market is the winning lottery ticket o

by GuiA 9y ago

This is an amazing anecdote. Spinning up a side company to solve a need you have as a company that isn’t addressed by the market is the winning lottery ticket of entrepreneurship (you have validated the product/service because you need the product/service to conduct your original business, you are intimately familiar with what features you need to offer, how much you can afford to charge for it, etc)

cabaalis 9y ago
Also, "scratching your own itch" is always the best startup method because you know intimately if your proposed solution really is a viable solution in the first place. It's then just a matter of pricing and cost, rinse and repeat.
- fineline 9y ago
  And execution. Knowing what you want doesn't guarantee you can deliver it. Otherwise your point (and parents) is a good one - certainly a good indicator that you might really be onto something.
BookmarkSaver 9y ago
This is basically how Amazon thinks (e.g. AWS, FBA)
- dx034 9y ago
  I agree with AWS but how did FBA solve problems for amazon internally?
  - BookmarkSaver 9y ago
    You have it backwards. AWS didn't solve anything for Amazon internally (it's actually kinda funny how tricky moving internal systems onto AWS is). FBA and AWS are Amazon taking systems that they already had to build for its own use and selling them as a product/service to external companies. FBA is just a way to use a portion of Amazon's existing distribution system. AWS is a way to use Amazon's existing tech platform(s).
  - fencepost 9y ago
    One possibility related to commingled SKUs would be that they can control coverage of items in warehouses by controlling which warehouse(s) sellers and their product to.
  - uiri 9y ago
    Fulfillment solves warehousing, inventory, and delivery of Amazon packages. Amazon built out their own network. FBA is Amazon renting out that network to third parties - whether they sell on Amazon or on their own ecommerce site.
JonCox 9y ago
To bring it back to the article, it's a bit like how CannaSOS (think a mix of Amazon & Rotten Tomatoes for weed) are stepping up and developing a crypto token & platform specifically for the purpose of buying/selling marijuana.
softawre 9y ago
This is the story of Interactive Intelligence, a company I worked for long ago. They were going to build children's software, but had trouble setting up a phone system. So they decided to build phone systems, and later sold for 1.3B

by GuiA 9y ago

cabaalis 9y ago

Also, "scratching your own itch" is always the best startup method because you know intimately if your proposed solution really is a viable solution in the first place. It's then just a matter of pricing and cost, rinse and repeat.

fineline 9y ago
And execution. Knowing what you want doesn't guarantee you can deliver it. Otherwise your point (and parents) is a good one - certainly a good indicator that you might really be onto something.

BookmarkSaver 9y ago

This is basically how Amazon thinks (e.g. AWS, FBA)

dx034 9y ago
I agree with AWS but how did FBA solve problems for amazon internally?
- BookmarkSaver 9y ago
  You have it backwards. AWS didn't solve anything for Amazon internally (it's actually kinda funny how tricky moving internal systems onto AWS is). FBA and AWS are Amazon taking systems that they already had to build for its own use and selling them as a product/service to external companies. FBA is just a way to use a portion of Amazon's existing distribution system. AWS is a way to use Amazon's existing tech platform(s).
- fencepost 9y ago
  One possibility related to commingled SKUs would be that they can control coverage of items in warehouses by controlling which warehouse(s) sellers and their product to.
- uiri 9y ago
  Fulfillment solves warehousing, inventory, and delivery of Amazon packages. Amazon built out their own network. FBA is Amazon renting out that network to third parties - whether they sell on Amazon or on their own ecommerce site.

JonCox 9y ago

To bring it back to the article, it's a bit like how CannaSOS (think a mix of Amazon & Rotten Tomatoes for weed) are stepping up and developing a crypto token & platform specifically for the purpose of buying/selling marijuana.

softawre 9y ago

This is the story of Interactive Intelligence, a company I worked for long ago. They were going to build children's software, but had trouble setting up a phone system. So they decided to build phone systems, and later sold for 1.3B