5 ms·

Awesome! What is the site doing $400k annually?

by barmstrong 16y ago

mkramlich 16y ago
yes please share that info with 1000's of would-be competitors with the right skill sets and entrepreneurial drive ;)
- runT1ME 16y ago
  If having a niche is your main competitive advantage, I'm not sure success will last long anyway.
  - icey 16y ago
    That's not necessarily the case. There are many niches that aren't obviously profitable. From the outside, it seems like they'd be a waste of time until someone discovers a way to make money with them.
    - mkramlich 16y ago
      also, certain niches may have limited time windows where it's relatively easier to make profits and/or there are no competitors active in it or only a few. after this window, profits are driven down to commodity levels and/or a large number of strong competitors enter the same space and bite off some percentage or all of the market that was previously yours
      - derefr 16y ago
        It'd be fun if, every once in a while, a post was just dropped on HN pointing out a time-limited niche as it begins. The result would be somewhere between a flash-mob and a gold-rush: hundreds of competitors popping into existence in the same space over the course of a weekend.
        davidandgoliath 16y ago
        Of which very few would survive 2 years. :p
  - warren_s 16y ago
    Part of the reason many niche markets exist is due to a need for domain knowledge, be it about the product itself, or the particular community you are servicing. I would argue that most niche players have either or both of these attributes, which allows them to hold their ground against would-be competitors. If domain knowledge is the main barrier to entry, the competitive advantage is not the fact that it's a niche, but the fact that you know something that your competitors don't about that niche.
cabinguy 16y ago
Because I shared some sensitive data, it is probably a good idea to keep the name of our site to myself (for now).
- jrmxrf 16y ago
  Brown University in Minnesota, electronics
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

Awesome! What is the site doing $400k annually?

mkramlich 16y ago

yes please share that info with 1000's of would-be competitors with the right skill sets and entrepreneurial drive ;)

runT1ME 16y ago
If having a niche is your main competitive advantage, I'm not sure success will last long anyway.
- icey 16y ago
  That's not necessarily the case. There are many niches that aren't obviously profitable. From the outside, it seems like they'd be a waste of time until someone discovers a way to make money with them.
  - mkramlich 16y ago
    also, certain niches may have limited time windows where it's relatively easier to make profits and/or there are no competitors active in it or only a few. after this window, profits are driven down to commodity levels and/or a large number of strong competitors enter the same space and bite off some percentage or all of the market that was previously yours
    - derefr 16y ago
      It'd be fun if, every once in a while, a post was just dropped on HN pointing out a time-limited niche as it begins. The result would be somewhere between a flash-mob and a gold-rush: hundreds of competitors popping into existence in the same space over the course of a weekend.
      - davidandgoliath 16y ago
        Of which very few would survive 2 years. :p
- warren_s 16y ago
  Part of the reason many niche markets exist is due to a need for domain knowledge, be it about the product itself, or the particular community you are servicing. I would argue that most niche players have either or both of these attributes, which allows them to hold their ground against would-be competitors. If domain knowledge is the main barrier to entry, the competitive advantage is not the fact that it's a niche, but the fact that you know something that your competitors don't about that niche.

cabinguy 16y ago

Because I shared some sensitive data, it is probably a good idea to keep the name of our site to myself (for now).

jrmxrf 16y ago
Brown University in Minnesota, electronics
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]