3 ms·
Started as a solo developer, spent 10+ years to grow it into a small business with 40 employees. The hardest lesson for me was that at the crux of it, business
by rushabh 6y ago
Started as a solo developer, spent 10+ years to grow it into a small business with 40 employees.
The hardest lesson for me was that at the crux of it, business is all about scarcity. There is no other magic out there. A great question to ask yourself is: How many people want what I sell and how many people are already serving it.
Business is about being in the right market with the right product, and then differentiating against all other players in the market. Once you figure this out, you will solve most of the operational problems.
- pgt 6y agoPeter Thiel has a great talk at YCombinator on how "Competition is for Losers": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fx5Q8xGU8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fx5Q8xGU8k
- hieunc229 6y agoDo you agree with Peter? I guess the angle he is looking at as a huge player in the market, where he couldn’t get bigger. So, it’s is true to play his strategy. On the otherhand, it is nearly impossible to not having competitors. Especially for young companies. Since most of the human needs (or demand) already have the solution (or supply)
- kristianc 6y agoIt also vastly depends on your goals. Thiel's advice is great if you are setting out to create the next Palantir, Facebook or Paypal. If you're looking to bootstrap a passive-income business as a solo developer, it's not as useful. In fact I'd flip his advice on his head and instead of "Build a Platform" say "Build a successful and revenue positive business off someone else's platform with the aim of being acquired by it some day."
- andarleen 6y agoimo this is by far the most valuable advise. there are so many books out there giving philosophical advice on how to start a business, but really all that matters is what do people want and how many others are supplying it.