4 ms·

I'm wondering how many HN readers are looking at this comment and are thinking to themselves "That's a great problem for a startup to tackle".

by sriramk 14y ago

RyanZAG 14y ago
Not such a great problem. If the services you were trying to manage are natural forces, then it makes sense to try and conquer them. However, these services will all actively try to stop your startup from succeeding by pulling legal tricks and other methods to block your access to customer's accounts. I don't recommend you try this unless you are a lawyer already who can somehow turn this startup into a legal battle, and make profit that way. Good luck...
bad_user 14y ago
http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/
InclinedPlane 14y ago
Sharepoint is a steaming pile of crap and yet somehow it manages to pull in an ungodly amount of revenue. The big problem in that space isn't featureset, it's sales. People buy and use sharepoint because it's backed by MS. In order to beat out MS in that market you don't just need to be incrementally better you either need a product which is so vastly better it leaves sharepoint in the dust or you need something that has killer features which drive adoption and maybe obsoletes sharepoint as a side effect.
- meaty 14y ago
  Agreed but to be honest there is nothing else that has that good integration that you can shoehorn your entire business process into. As for startups taking this on, there isn't a chance in hell. The problem is too big to solve quickly enough to get market traction. SharePoint is big and complicated for a real reason.
- rbanffy 14y ago
  > In order to beat out MS in that market you don't just need to be incrementally better you either need a product which is so vastly better it leaves sharepoint in the dust Actually, all you need is a better salesperson. Sharepoint is sold by salespeople to people who have no idea of what they are buying.
pinaceae 14y ago
It is currently being tackled in various industries by specialized document platforms. Specialized because taking vanilla Sharepoint or Documentum and making it compliant with very specific rules and regulations is a costly nightmare. We are tackling Life Sciences as we speak.

I'm wondering how many HN readers are looking at this comment and are thinking to themselves "That's a great problem for a startup to tackle".

by sriramk 14y ago

I'm wondering how many HN readers are looking at this comment and are thinking to themselves "That's a great problem for a startup to tackle".

RyanZAG 14y ago

Not such a great problem. If the services you were trying to manage are natural forces, then it makes sense to try and conquer them. However, these services will all actively try to stop your startup from succeeding by pulling legal tricks and other methods to block your access to customer's accounts. I don't recommend you try this unless you are a lawyer already who can somehow turn this startup into a legal battle, and make profit that way. Good luck...

bad_user 14y ago

http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/

InclinedPlane 14y ago

Sharepoint is a steaming pile of crap and yet somehow it manages to pull in an ungodly amount of revenue. The big problem in that space isn't featureset, it's sales. People buy and use sharepoint because it's backed by MS. In order to beat out MS in that market you don't just need to be incrementally better you either need a product which is so vastly better it leaves sharepoint in the dust or you need something that has killer features which drive adoption and maybe obsoletes sharepoint as a side effect.

meaty 14y ago
Agreed but to be honest there is nothing else that has that good integration that you can shoehorn your entire business process into. As for startups taking this on, there isn't a chance in hell. The problem is too big to solve quickly enough to get market traction. SharePoint is big and complicated for a real reason.
rbanffy 14y ago
> In order to beat out MS in that market you don't just need to be incrementally better you either need a product which is so vastly better it leaves sharepoint in the dust Actually, all you need is a better salesperson. Sharepoint is sold by salespeople to people who have no idea of what they are buying.

pinaceae 14y ago

It is currently being tackled in various industries by specialized document platforms. Specialized because taking vanilla Sharepoint or Documentum and making it compliant with very specific rules and regulations is a costly nightmare. We are tackling Life Sciences as we speak.