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Today there is a great market for aluminium and glass mobile phones. I wouldn't recommend going into that market if you have limited financial resources. If th

by jot 13y ago

Today there is a great market for aluminium and glass mobile phones. I wouldn't recommend going into that market if you have limited financial resources. If the first, second or third developer of mobile phones made them out of aluminium and glass rather than plastic do you think they would have been more successful? How about if they gave them away for nothing, or with a total return less than cost price? If you want quality to be your differentiator, you need to already have easy access to a proven market for your core product.

jiggy2011 13y ago
This applies if you are building a product which is so groundbreakingly new that nobody has any expectations for quality level yet. These products are very rare compared to those which are an evolution of an existing concept. Even with other differentiating factors you are going to struggle to sell a product which has a perception of being below par in terms of quality.
- jot 13y ago
  It's your perception of them that they are evolutions of an existing concept. If you speak to customers it's surprising how groundbreaking they feel very simple things are. Competing on quality isn't yet as important on the web as many people in our industry seem to think. Just look at all the crapy project management, time tracking and build your own website tools out there. Many of the ones you think look bad and are poorly built have customers that love them and profitable businesses built on them them. I want quality to be a more important factor in web products but the only way that's going to happen is for more brilliant web developers to be running them. Once they have profitable businesses they can switch to putting quality first.
  - jiggy2011 13y ago
    The bar for time tracking/project management and website construction applications is very high. Many are launched but most fall into obscurity. Why would I want to buy a rushed out the door project management app when I can use basecamp? Web products is not really a homogeneous category either and spans everything from social networks to specialized applications for industry.
    - jot 13y ago
      You and I might choose Basecamp but it's amazing how many people refuse to use it for silly reasons like "It doesn't have gant charts". Many of the competitors that have launched and have fallen into obscurity from your point of view are actually generating healthy profits from a few thousand customers in an industry you don't know. There are huge opportunities for brilliant web developers to release a first product, or version of a product, in an obscure market and use the profits to build something amazing with wider appeal.

by jot 13y ago

jiggy2011 13y ago

This applies if you are building a product which is so groundbreakingly new that nobody has any expectations for quality level yet. These products are very rare compared to those which are an evolution of an existing concept. Even with other differentiating factors you are going to struggle to sell a product which has a perception of being below par in terms of quality.

jot 13y ago
It's your perception of them that they are evolutions of an existing concept. If you speak to customers it's surprising how groundbreaking they feel very simple things are. Competing on quality isn't yet as important on the web as many people in our industry seem to think. Just look at all the crapy project management, time tracking and build your own website tools out there. Many of the ones you think look bad and are poorly built have customers that love them and profitable businesses built on them them. I want quality to be a more important factor in web products but the only way that's going to happen is for more brilliant web developers to be running them. Once they have profitable businesses they can switch to putting quality first.
- jiggy2011 13y ago
  The bar for time tracking/project management and website construction applications is very high. Many are launched but most fall into obscurity. Why would I want to buy a rushed out the door project management app when I can use basecamp? Web products is not really a homogeneous category either and spans everything from social networks to specialized applications for industry.
  - jot 13y ago
    You and I might choose Basecamp but it's amazing how many people refuse to use it for silly reasons like "It doesn't have gant charts". Many of the competitors that have launched and have fallen into obscurity from your point of view are actually generating healthy profits from a few thousand customers in an industry you don't know. There are huge opportunities for brilliant web developers to release a first product, or version of a product, in an obscure market and use the profits to build something amazing with wider appeal.