4 ms·

I imagine it's a similar problem to online payments. From 100,000 feet payments looks like shuffling bits around and keeping track of them. And in some sense it

I imagine it's a similar problem to online payments. From 100,000 feet payments looks like shuffling bits around and keeping track of them. And in some sense it is. But in reality that technical problem is maybe only 1% of the business, the rest is things like customer service, fraud protection, auditing, regulatory compliance, relationships and integration with other financial companies, relationships with governments and law enforcement organizations, etc. Each of which is a hugely different problem and vastly more difficult. The funny part is if you translated the problem to the physical realm few people would fool themselves into thinking that a bank could be reduced to little more than a ledger.

dmbaggett 13y ago
Bingo! I think I have my next startup!
- frossie 13y ago
  If you want to tilt at windmills, try medical records....
pbreit 13y ago
For all 3 of these categories, the harder part is getting users.
- dmbaggett 13y ago
  I actually disagree. I think getting users is a subproblem of creating a MVP (Minimally Viable Product), which is incredibly hard in these spaces. You can't get users unless you have an MVP. But what if your MVP takes 1000 person years to create? (That's not the case for email or a travel web site, necessarily, but certainly is the case for an airline reservation system... or a web browser.) Remember Vonage? All they had to do was offer an MVP for voice phone. But it turns out that if a customer picks up the phone once a month and doesn't get a dial tone and a clear connection, they're going to abandon you. Lesson: MVP(voice phone) != MVP(photo sharing app). The Lean Startup wisdom about focusing on an MVP and getting to market fit is absolutely right. The issue is: what exactly is the MVP for your space? Not all MVPs are equally easy to create. Try creating an MVP for a nuclear reactor, for example. Well understood tech? Yes. Easy? No.

dmbaggett 13y ago

Bingo! I think I have my next startup!

frossie 13y ago
If you want to tilt at windmills, try medical records....

pbreit 13y ago

For all 3 of these categories, the harder part is getting users.

dmbaggett 13y ago
I actually disagree. I think getting users is a subproblem of creating a MVP (Minimally Viable Product), which is incredibly hard in these spaces. You can't get users unless you have an MVP. But what if your MVP takes 1000 person years to create? (That's not the case for email or a travel web site, necessarily, but certainly is the case for an airline reservation system... or a web browser.) Remember Vonage? All they had to do was offer an MVP for voice phone. But it turns out that if a customer picks up the phone once a month and doesn't get a dial tone and a clear connection, they're going to abandon you. Lesson: MVP(voice phone) != MVP(photo sharing app). The Lean Startup wisdom about focusing on an MVP and getting to market fit is absolutely right. The issue is: what exactly is the MVP for your space? Not all MVPs are equally easy to create. Try creating an MVP for a nuclear reactor, for example. Well understood tech? Yes. Easy? No.