6 ms·

"Vitamin not a pain-killer" is a great metaphor.

emmett 16y ago
No, it's a terrible metaphor. The vitamin business is hugely successful! I did the research once and vitamins and supplements actually outsell pain relievers. [ Edit: supporting research I did, which I've now cited twice in comments on Hacker News. I should probably write a blog post. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499929 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499929 ]
- philwelch 16y ago
  Naturally--one takes a vitamin every day, but a painkiller only when in pain.
- siglesias 16y ago
  In terms of patentability and profits too?
  - run4yourlives 16y ago
    given -R&D, seems logical that it may be the case.
- roel_v 16y ago
  I think the point wasn't so much in how successful both industries are, then he could've taken any two industries. The point was that one is very much needed, and the other is nice to have. It's hard to get people to pay for 'nice to have'.
  - run4yourlives 16y ago
    Huh? The guy you responded to shows exactly the opposite, to the tune of vitamins being a larger industry.
brc 16y ago
That's the money quote of the whole article. The Vitamins business is big, true, but absolutely dwarfed by the pharmaceutical industry. You don't need salesmen, multi-level marketing or flashy advertising to sell aspirin. The only aspirin advertising is between different aspirin brands, not to convince people they need it at all. Take one, headache goes away. It's a binary test = it either works or it doesn't. That's how to build a simple business that sells. Your software should be an aspirin not a multi-vitamin. It should be self-evident on the first try how it solves a headache. I've driven in my car late at night to out-of-the-way shops to buy aspirin. I've never bought a vitamin in my life.
- pinaceae 16y ago
  you have no idea how the pharmaceutical industry works. by now there are tons of generic versions of aspirin out there, plus there always have been alternatives like thomapyrin, etc out there. yet you know, recognize and buy aspirin at a mind-boggling mark up prize, not even recognizing that bayer has stopped producing the stuff by themselves and that it comes out of the same factories like its generic counterparts. and why is that? bayer still invests heavily in marketing and sales. aspirin is the most "researched" drug as there are countless phaseIV studies going on all the time. which are just a legal way of paying docs to push the product to patients. then you have key accounters and pharmacy-reps (depending on the market) out there, influencing big chains (USA) or tiny pharmacies (Europe) to stock, display and recommend the product. never underestimate the power and smartness of big pharma when it comes to sales and marketing. i make my living implementing crm systems for them worldwide - these guys are never sitting on their hands.
  - brc 16y ago
    No you missed my point. Even the generic aspirin manufacturers can sell the stuff with little or no advertising. The vitamins business has to spend a lot of money convincing to buy people stuff, the aspirin business doesn't.

No, it's a terrible metaphor. The vitamin business is hugely successful! I did the research once and vitamins and supplements actually outsell pain relievers. [ Edit: supporting research I did, which I've now cited twice in comments on Hacker News. I should probably write a blog post. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499929 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499929 ]

philwelch 16y ago
Naturally--one takes a vitamin every day, but a painkiller only when in pain.
siglesias 16y ago
In terms of patentability and profits too?
- run4yourlives 16y ago
  given -R&D, seems logical that it may be the case.
roel_v 16y ago
I think the point wasn't so much in how successful both industries are, then he could've taken any two industries. The point was that one is very much needed, and the other is nice to have. It's hard to get people to pay for 'nice to have'.
- run4yourlives 16y ago
  Huh? The guy you responded to shows exactly the opposite, to the tune of vitamins being a larger industry.

brc 16y ago

That's the money quote of the whole article. The Vitamins business is big, true, but absolutely dwarfed by the pharmaceutical industry. You don't need salesmen, multi-level marketing or flashy advertising to sell aspirin. The only aspirin advertising is between different aspirin brands, not to convince people they need it at all. Take one, headache goes away. It's a binary test = it either works or it doesn't. That's how to build a simple business that sells. Your software should be an aspirin not a multi-vitamin. It should be self-evident on the first try how it solves a headache. I've driven in my car late at night to out-of-the-way shops to buy aspirin. I've never bought a vitamin in my life.

pinaceae 16y ago
you have no idea how the pharmaceutical industry works. by now there are tons of generic versions of aspirin out there, plus there always have been alternatives like thomapyrin, etc out there. yet you know, recognize and buy aspirin at a mind-boggling mark up prize, not even recognizing that bayer has stopped producing the stuff by themselves and that it comes out of the same factories like its generic counterparts. and why is that? bayer still invests heavily in marketing and sales. aspirin is the most "researched" drug as there are countless phaseIV studies going on all the time. which are just a legal way of paying docs to push the product to patients. then you have key accounters and pharmacy-reps (depending on the market) out there, influencing big chains (USA) or tiny pharmacies (Europe) to stock, display and recommend the product. never underestimate the power and smartness of big pharma when it comes to sales and marketing. i make my living implementing crm systems for them worldwide - these guys are never sitting on their hands.
- brc 16y ago
  No you missed my point. Even the generic aspirin manufacturers can sell the stuff with little or no advertising. The vitamins business has to spend a lot of money convincing to buy people stuff, the aspirin business doesn't.