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Reposting the comment I posted on the blog post here: It seems to me that consumer tech startups have a default belief that selling the promise of sales is eas
by revorad 14y ago
Reposting the comment I posted on the blog post here:
It seems to me that consumer tech startups have a default belief that selling the promise of sales is easier and more lucrative than selling something directly. It’s like a slightly fancier version of the “how to make money online” courses.
They also seem to look down on selling their products directly to users (“we don’t want to nickel and dime our users”). They have a strange attraction to portraying this benevolent change-the-world-for-free image (see http://help.kik.com/customer/portal/articles/654821 http://help.kik.com/customer/portal/articles/654821).
I suspect there are big unexplored opportunities for selling software services directly to consumers – things which improve people’s lives noticeably, without them having to first do a ton of donkey work (checking in, writing reviews, etc). But, the approach to building such products would be to go deep on a specific problem in a small market and expand only when you’ve nailed that business. Unlike typical consumer startups, the focus should be on high quality not scale.
Anyway, I am working on some ideas along these lines. I shared my perspective to clear my thinking and also hear what you think about it.
Oh and thanks for introducing me to the delightful word Veeblefetzer!
- peterwiese 14y agoI share your opinion. I think there is a much bigger opportunity to solve niche problems in niche markes that require very specific, high-quality solutions. Going into these markets doesn't look so attractive at first, especially not to the crowd on HN, since it isn't connected to building highly scalable web apps that are built on cutting edge technology. Instead it can be done with a traditional lamp setup on a non-cloudy virtual root server with 2gigs of ram. Also, why this isn't a topic here on HN is because these niche markets are mostly not at all tech-related, meaning you need some actual knowledge of things outside of the tech scene. Many people here lack this experience. I am glad about this though, it leaves much room for experimentation, it's approachable with mediocre programming skills and you can grow organically with the actual demands of your customers. They are also very happy to pay for my product....
- AznHisoka 14y agoMost consumers are not used to buying online services that don't have a physical component. We're used to free. And when there's a free alternative, not a lot of people will be paying for a slightly better paid version. If you want to sell stuff to consumers, it's important to have a physical component. And it has to solve a very very crucial problem like losing weight.