In many markets, there are great opportunities to nibble around the edges of the larger companies. The crumbs of many of these companies offer entrepreneurs the

In many markets, there are great opportunities to nibble around the edges of the larger companies. The crumbs of many of these companies offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to build six and seven figure annual businesses. The way to win in markets that aren't likely to be "disrupted" is to go for the crumbs, not the cake. It's a shame so many entrepreneurs have been deluded by the appeal of "disruption." Here's a Y Combinator example: Casetext says it is "disrupting" the legal research market dominated by Westlaw and LexisNexis[1]. Anybody who has any experience in this market knows how absurd this is. Bloomberg has invested approximately $1 billion trying to make a dent in this market, with limited success[2]. You simply cannot disrupt the incumbents because they have too many advantages. That doesn't mean there's no opportunity in the legal research market, however. There are quite a few focused/niche legal research services that are doing well. I know one that counts close to 90% of the Amlaw 100 as subscribers. This service will never be a billion dollar business, or even a $100 million business, but back-of-the-envelope math says it's a business most founders would feel blessed to have started. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8011009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8011009 [2] http://www.adweek.com/news/press/fortune-reports-bloombergs-identity-crisis-154319 http://www.adweek.com/news/press/fortune-reports-bloombergs-...