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I'm shocked this even made it on hacker news. Here's a market selection tip: find a problem not experienced by mid 20s single men in urban centers and your co

I'm shocked this even made it on hacker news. Here's a market selection tip: find a problem not experienced by mid 20s single men in urban centers and your competition drops by about two orders of magnitude.

Zigurd 13y ago
"Hmm, procreation... That could get obscure enough to become hip."
- wonderzombie 13y ago
  I can't tell how sarcastic you're being. :) Trying to chase what's hip (esp in the eyes of white male 20-somethings living in SV) is exactly the problem. When it comes to procreating, how likely do you think that demographic is to think about problems/opportunities re: raising children?
  - Zigurd 13y ago
    If they start selling infant size porkpie hats, you'll know I'm right. Getting the skinny jeans over the diapers is going to be a challenge though.
- thatthatis 13y ago
  Apparently, not in Japan.
josefresco 13y ago
Competition may drop among tech startups, but you quickly enter the world of heavyweight long-standing businesses who have the capital and marketshare to stomp you out. Not many startup 20-something CEO's are worried about competition when launching a new mobile app hatched in a weekend bender but sell something more traditional and essential like kids clothing and you'll spend sleepless nights worrying about Wal-Mart and other established providers who could and (prob) will squash you.
- thatthatis 13y ago
  I'll take Walmart as a competitor over 20 20 something CEOs hacking on Ramen. Walmart might have scale and cost advantages, but their advantages are bounded by physical reality. 20 somehing ramen fueled work for zero, or possibly less than zero if mom and dad are still helping out. Against Walmart I can use judo business strategy. 20 something's use judo against each other.
  - kcg 13y ago
    Judo business strategy...what? You're telling me that you that motivation is a bigger asset to a few 20 year olds than all of the scale, capital and business experience of Walmart, and therefore you'd rather compete against Walmart? Do you think Walmart became the dominant business it is today by just sitting around and not competing (and winning)? Sorry, but I have to disagree. Capital, economies of scale, strong management, etc. -- these things are very real advantages and matter to the viability of a business. I'm not saying it's impossible to compete with entrenched businesses, but don't think for a second they're not able to compete right back because they don't have "judo business strategy."
    - pnathan 13y ago
      Big companies are famous for being not-nimble and not investing in "small" niches that won't move their bottom line. So if you can find a niche that BigCo won't be able to move into for years (or won't even want to), then you can have a solid business.
    - thatthatis 13y ago
      http://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/judo-business-strategy.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/judo-business-strategy.a... http://judoinfo.com/pdf/business.pdf http://judoinfo.com/pdf/business.pdf Judo strategy is when you go up against a larger opponent and use their size to your advantage. It's an easy term to google. Judo strategy is employed most famously when you price to capture a fraction of the market such that their cost to win those customers back by lowering their prices would have a higher cannibalization cost to existing customers than the benefit of getting the lost customers back. Price is just one of the ways to use a judo strategy, but it is the easiest to understand. I'm telling you that 20 year olds often have zero opportunity cost, zero holding cost, and zero living cost. Because they exist in a "pre-adult" state, they are scary to compete against because they often can act irrationally for long periods of time with no repercussions. If there is an opportunity, I'd rather go up against a large multinational company who will almost always act rationally but inefficiently than a field of likely to be irrational opponents.

Zigurd 13y ago

"Hmm, procreation... That could get obscure enough to become hip."

wonderzombie 13y ago
I can't tell how sarcastic you're being. :) Trying to chase what's hip (esp in the eyes of white male 20-somethings living in SV) is exactly the problem. When it comes to procreating, how likely do you think that demographic is to think about problems/opportunities re: raising children?
- Zigurd 13y ago
  If they start selling infant size porkpie hats, you'll know I'm right. Getting the skinny jeans over the diapers is going to be a challenge though.
thatthatis 13y ago
Apparently, not in Japan.

josefresco 13y ago

Competition may drop among tech startups, but you quickly enter the world of heavyweight long-standing businesses who have the capital and marketshare to stomp you out. Not many startup 20-something CEO's are worried about competition when launching a new mobile app hatched in a weekend bender but sell something more traditional and essential like kids clothing and you'll spend sleepless nights worrying about Wal-Mart and other established providers who could and (prob) will squash you.

thatthatis 13y ago
I'll take Walmart as a competitor over 20 20 something CEOs hacking on Ramen. Walmart might have scale and cost advantages, but their advantages are bounded by physical reality. 20 somehing ramen fueled work for zero, or possibly less than zero if mom and dad are still helping out. Against Walmart I can use judo business strategy. 20 something's use judo against each other.
- kcg 13y ago
  Judo business strategy...what? You're telling me that you that motivation is a bigger asset to a few 20 year olds than all of the scale, capital and business experience of Walmart, and therefore you'd rather compete against Walmart? Do you think Walmart became the dominant business it is today by just sitting around and not competing (and winning)? Sorry, but I have to disagree. Capital, economies of scale, strong management, etc. -- these things are very real advantages and matter to the viability of a business. I'm not saying it's impossible to compete with entrenched businesses, but don't think for a second they're not able to compete right back because they don't have "judo business strategy."
  - pnathan 13y ago
    Big companies are famous for being not-nimble and not investing in "small" niches that won't move their bottom line. So if you can find a niche that BigCo won't be able to move into for years (or won't even want to), then you can have a solid business.
  - thatthatis 13y ago
    http://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/judo-business-strategy.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/judo-business-strategy.a... http://judoinfo.com/pdf/business.pdf http://judoinfo.com/pdf/business.pdf Judo strategy is when you go up against a larger opponent and use their size to your advantage. It's an easy term to google. Judo strategy is employed most famously when you price to capture a fraction of the market such that their cost to win those customers back by lowering their prices would have a higher cannibalization cost to existing customers than the benefit of getting the lost customers back. Price is just one of the ways to use a judo strategy, but it is the easiest to understand. I'm telling you that 20 year olds often have zero opportunity cost, zero holding cost, and zero living cost. Because they exist in a "pre-adult" state, they are scary to compete against because they often can act irrationally for long periods of time with no repercussions. If there is an opportunity, I'd rather go up against a large multinational company who will almost always act rationally but inefficiently than a field of likely to be irrational opponents.